Ibrahima Konat\u00e9 has suggested there is a strong possibility he will sign a new contract to remain at Liverpool next season, and his comments offered a window into the club\u2019s approach to timing high-profile renewals.<\/p>\n
Konat\u00e9 moved from a cautious November prediction \u2014 when he said his future would be resolved \u201cvery soon\u201d \u2014 to a firmer stance after Sunday\u2019s Merseyside derby. \u201cThere are many things people have said but for a long time we have spoken with the club and we are close to an agreement,\u201d Konat\u00e9 told assembled reporters in the aftermath of Sunday\u2019s Merseyside derby win. \u201cI think everyone wished for that for as soon as possible but we are in a good way.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor sure, there is a big chance that I\u2019m here next season. This is what I\u2019ve always wanted,\u201d Konat\u00e9 added.<\/p>\n
He offered an explanation for the slower pace of negotiations, pointing to the handling of contracts for two teammates. \u201cThis is negotiations,\u201d he shrugged. \u201cWith Virgil and Mo last season it was exactly the same to sort the contract.\u201d The comparison recalls that Virgil van Dijk (34) and Mohamed Salah (33) concluded two-year deals last April which may be their final contracts at the club. By contrast Konat\u00e9 is 26 and, the player said, is approaching his prime, making a similarly short extension this summer unlikely.<\/p>\n
The forward reference to Real Madrid was also part of the wider context: Real Madrid reportedly pulled out of the race to sign the centre back on a free transfer, leaving Liverpool to manage the process internally.<\/p>\n
Konat\u00e9 summed up the situation with a line that suggests club policy plays a role. “This is maybe how the club want it,” he added. That method carries risk: once a player reaches the final six months of a contract they can sign pre-agreements with foreign clubs without input from their current employer. The strategy therefore depends on mutual trust between player and club, a dynamic Konat\u00e9 said exists as talks continue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Konat\u00e9 says there is a big chance he stays at Liverpool next season and explains the club’s timing..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12418,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[175,969],"tags":[983,1393],"class_list":["post-12419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-liverpool","category-premier-league","tag-agents","tag-centre-back"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}