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Arne Slot has described Ibrahima Konaté as “vital” to Liverpool and the club have not given up hope of convincing the defender to sign a new contract.
Konaté has endured a tough time on and off the pitch this season but has impressed since returning from compassionate leave against Newcastle following the death of his father. Liverpool’s central-defensive rebuild is under way with the signings of Giovanni Leoni and Jérémy Jacquet, for an initial £26m and £55m respectively, but Slot insists Konaté remains an essential part of his plans.
“It’s just as good from him as from Virgil [van Dijk],” said Liverpool’s head coach of Konaté’s current form. “Ibou has had a very good spell recently. He had a lot of good games earlier in the season but then he was also part of the reason why we conceded a goal.
“His general performances were good but then a small mistake he made immediately led to a goal and so he was judged differently. But he is having a very good partnership with Virgil since I’ve been here and, just like Virgil, he has always been fit. Touch wood. These two are vital for us, not only because of the quality they have but because of the lack of options we have behind.”
After scoring the winner at Sunderland on Wednesday, Van Dijk said he wanted Liverpool to secure his defensive colleague on a new contract. Konaté’s current deal expires at the end of the season and the 26-year-old has been linked with a free transfer to Real Madrid.
Liverpool have been trying to secure the France international’sfuture for more than 12 months but, despite failing to agree fresh terms, Slot claimed the club are not resigned to Konate’s exit.
“We are in talks with him so that tells you what we want,” said the Dutchman. “It’s clear we would like him to stay but negotiations are ongoing so let’s see where that ends. We wouldn’t be in negotiations if we didn’t want him to stay.”
Meanwhile, Slot believes Mohamed Salah should be judged at the end of the season having struggled by his phenomenal standards in front of goal. Salah has scored only once since his return from the Africa Cup of Nations – though his assists and pressing stats have improved after the tournament – and across the entire campaign he is having fewer shots per game than previous years.
“There could be multiple reasons for that,” said Slot. “It could be the opponent is even more aware of his threat after such a great season last season, or having so many different right-backs behind him for the whole season has influenced that dynamic. I could come up with five or six more reasons.
“What I do see is that, in general, the team generates just as many chances as we did last season. The team has the most ball possession in the league. I also see us being able to bring our forwards, and not only Mo, into very promising positions in many games. So it will be a combination of factors. Even last season Mo had a period where he scored seven in four games, I think, and then five or six games where he didn’t score, so let’s see where he is at the end of the season when it comes to goals and assists.”
