Replacing Ibou

Ibrahima Konaté is unlikely to stay at Liverpool. Who should the Reds sign to replace him?

This was drafted on Sunday before news broke that Liverpool have signed Jérémy Jacquet for next season. It’s still worth a read as the centre-back search isn’t over but bear in mind it was written without knowledge of the deal.

The transfer window has closed until the summer. Liverpool and Ibrahima Konaté remain some way apart over a new contract. The France international, 26, is in his fifth season at Anfield and believes he should be one of the best-paid defenders in the Premier League.

That’s according to a recent BBC transfer gossip round up, anyway. “And Liverpool could move to replace Konate with Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven, with Real Madrid also paying attention to the 24-year-old Netherlands defender's future,” it continued. How can you possibly argue with these stories when they’re provided by Teamtalk, oracle of all that is good and true?

As van de Ven is under contract for another three years at a club that doesn’t need to sell, we can dismiss the likelihood of him running out in red at Anfield next season. And maybe Konaté will sign a contract extension. It’s just hard to think of any peak-age player that has done this in the final months of their deal. Liverpool need a replacement.

A sizeable section of the Reds’ fanbase won’t be sorry to see the French international leave. Konaté has had a rough six months on a personal level, with some of his performances indicative of a player whose head was understandably not fully in the game. Whatever your view on he reasons behind his current level, Ibou is Liverpool’s most integral player in 2025/26 who is out of contract this summer.

Until recently we could look at FBRef to find a list of players with similar data as a starting point in our hunt for a Konaté replacement. Alas, we cannot swim in that pool anymore. Opta have five suggestions for us, though a slightly more historical comparison with Ibou has produced the best target of the lot. Let’s review the potential Konaté-a-like transfers before considering the diamond.