Liverpool’s next transfer target is now clearer than ever as major update shared on ‘tremendous’ ace

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Liverpool were already the team to beat last season, but after the signings they’ve already made this summer, they’re on course to be dominant once again.

The likes of Florian Wirtz and Milos Kerkez look to be exceptional additions to Liverpool’s ranks, with the duo helping fix two areas of the Reds’ squad that needed strengthening.

Indeed, with players of this calibre arriving, it means that it’s going to be the end of the line for some of Slot’s first-team squad, with Caoimhin Kelleher and Jarell Quansah already exiting Anfield.

However, as Richard Hughes and Slot have spent close to £200million on bringing new players into their ranks, more players than just the aforementioned duo will have to be sold on.

In addition to this, there are a couple of players within Liverpool’s ranks whose contracts are set to expire at the end of the 2025-26 season.

And, after an update from Sky Sports journalist Sacha Tavolieri, it seems like the future of one of those players has already been decided.

Ibrahima Konate only wants to move to Real Madrid

Ibrahima Konate, who was once called “tremendous” by Rio Ferdinand, has now entered the final year of his contract at Anfield.

The Frenchman hinted at talks going well towards the end of the 2024-25 campaign, but now, things have seemingly taken a u-turn.

The report from Tavolieri outlines that if Konate does choose to leave Liverpool, it will only be for Real Madrid.

This means that the Reds would lose yet another one of their star men on a free transfer, much like what happened with Trent Alexander-Arnold this season.

This would be far from ideal as it would mean that the Reds would only have two senior centre-backs among their ranks, and with the injury history of Joe Gomez, that feels like a scary prospect.

With this in mind, it’s now clear who the Reds’ next transfer target should be.

Liverpool must sign a new centre-back this summer

At the moment, Liverpool are being linked with a plethora of strikers to help bolster their attacking ranks.

But, in actual fact, it feels like a new centre-back is much higher on the priority list at the moment.

Indeed, Wataru Endo can be used there if needed, but if Konate does end up leaving at the end of the season, Slot will find himself in a bit of a pickle.

A few centre-backs, such as Marc Guehi, Castello Lukeba and Giovanni Leoni, have all recently been linked with an Anfield switch.

Leoni is the youngest of the three at only 18 years old and would be available for a fee worth around £26million from Parma.

The other two, however, would cost considerably more, but they do have much more experience in a top-level league.

Of course, there’s still plenty of time for decisions to be made, but with the way things are headed, a new centre-back should be next on the agenda for Slot and co.