So much uncertainty surrounds Liverpool going into Sunday’s final game of the season, with Ibrahima Konate’s contract one of the issues yet to be settled.
Unbelievably, the Frenchman will play against Brentford without knowing if he will sign an extension, despite declaring with confidence that an agreement was close in April.
Since then there has been radio silence, and journalist David Lynch has now explained that the hesitation is likely coming from Liverpool themselves rather than Konate.
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Konate absolutely wants to stay at Liverpool
Liverpool fan opinion has swung every which way on Konate throughout the season. After a dismal beginning and middle of the campaign, plenty of supporters were unbothered if the 26-year-old stayed or left.
But he has rediscovered some form through the second half of the season, and with so much else to do during another busy summer window, it makes much more sense to keep Konate.
Nevertheless, Lynch says that Liverpool may not subscribe to the same view. Speaking to Anfield Index on Monday, the reporter said that to his understanding Konate is very keen to stay, meaning the hold-up is coming from the club side.
“I don’t know if I would say that [he’s nailed on to leave] on the basis that the player wants to stay,” Lynch said. “That is 100 per cent my understanding, that the player would like to stay at Liverpool. That would be his preference and it has been all along. He still wants to stay.”
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“I’ve had conversations this week, I was told a couple of days ago that this period was crucial, the next 48 hours or so, in fact I better check in on that today to see where that’s up to! But the sense I’m getting from this is that the club are making a decision that they don’t want to go down that route maybe, that’s why they’re leaving their options open.
“The player would stay if he could, so let’s see what happens,” he added. “The fact he was so confident it would get done a few weeks ago and now it’s seemingly in doubt would suggest to me that maybe Liverpool have pulled the rug on him a little bit. So, fascinating situation that one and let’s see how it plays out.”
Lynch also pushed back on suggestions that Konate is looking for numbers as high as £300k-per-week.
“We don’t know the numbers on Konate’s contract until that would be signed,” he said.
It is rare that a player will get so close to the end of his contract and still end up signing, but with an official confirmation on Konate’s exit still to arrive, hope should still remain that this will be one of those anomalies.
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