Real Madrid are reported to be on the verge of signing Ibrahima Konat\u00e9 after the centre back left Liverpool on a free transfer. Konat\u00e9 had been expected to depart as his contract ran down, despite telling reporters in April that he was \u201cclose to an agreement\u201d over extending his stay at Anfield. He later posted his farewells to supporters: \u201cI will carry\u00a0Liverpool \u00a0with me wherever I go… but it\u2019s time for a new challenge and a new chapter.\u201d<\/p>\n
AS reports that Florentino P\u00e9rez is \u201cvery close to securing the center back\u2019s arrival should he win the elections,\u201d and a verbal agreement reportedly exists between player and club. The move is said to hinge on P\u00e9rez\u2019s re-election on June 7, per Fabrizio Romano.<\/p>\n
The transfer would follow a clear precedent for Real Madrid in recent windows: David Alaba, Antonio R\u00fcdiger and Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 arrived on free deals, while the club paid \u20ac10 million to secure Trent Alexander-Arnold ahead of last season\u2019s Club World Cup. Konat\u00e9 would fit that model as a 27-year-old with top-level experience and resale value.<\/p>\n
On the pitch, Konat\u00e9 brings size and athleticism. At 6’5″, he is strong in the air and has regularly ranked high for aerial duels won in the Premier League. In 2025\u201326 no Liverpool defender made more tackles, interceptions or blocked more crosses. His recovery pace and five years at Liverpool, plus 27 caps for France, underline his pedigree.<\/p>\n
Madrid also have clear needs at centre back. David Alaba left at season\u2019s end, Eder Milit\u00e3o has had injury problems, and Antonio R\u00fcdiger requires managed minutes. Dean Huijsen remains highly rated but had an uneven first season.<\/p>\n
Concerns persist. Konat\u00e9 has a recent injury history, missing eight games in 2024\u201325 and seven the year before, though he played 36 of 38 Premier League matches in 2025\u201326. His form dipped as Liverpool conceded 53 times and finished fifth, and manager Arne Slot described him as being \u201ca bit too much at the crime scene,\u201d after a December draw with Leeds. There are mitigating factors to consider, including the death of Konat\u00e9\u2019s father earlier this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Konat\u00e9 ‘very close’ to Real Madrid; deal tied to P\u00e9rez re-election, fitness and form concerns. plus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14161,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[175,987],"tags":[1675,1730],"class_list":["post-14162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-liverpool","category-real-madrid","tag-antonio-rudiger","tag-center-back"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14162","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=14162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14162\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}