{"id":38094,"date":"2026-01-20T06:40:48","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T11:40:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/01\/20\/liverpool-face-stiff-competition-from-real-madrid-to-sign-konates-replacement\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T06:40:48","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T11:40:48","slug":"liverpool-face-stiff-competition-from-real-madrid-to-sign-konates-replacement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/01\/20\/liverpool-face-stiff-competition-from-real-madrid-to-sign-konates-replacement\/","title":{"rendered":"Liverpool face stiff competition from Real Madrid to sign Konate&#8217;s replacement"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_74 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/01\/20\/liverpool-face-stiff-competition-from-real-madrid-to-sign-konates-replacement\/#Liverpool_have_no_intention_of_giving_Konate_a_big_contract\" >Liverpool have no intention of giving Konate a big contract<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/01\/20\/liverpool-face-stiff-competition-from-real-madrid-to-sign-konates-replacement\/#Reds_set_to_compete_with_Real_Madrid_for_Spurs_star\" >Reds set to compete with Real Madrid for Spurs star<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Liverpool face a growing dilemma over Ibrahima Konate&#8217;s future, with Teamtalk reporting that the centre-back is still far from agreeing a new contract at Anfield.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The 26-year-old Frenchman, whose contract expires in 2026, believes he deserves to be one of the highest-paid defenders in the Premier League, and his stance has caused a major rift in negotiations.<\/p>\n<p>Konate has established himself as one of Liverpool&#8217;s most effective defenders when he is in good form, but a series of injuries have hampered his consistency.<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, the former RB Leipzig star feels his performances, profile and importance to the team warrant a salary package comparable to that of the league&#8217;s highest-paid centre-backs.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Liverpool_have_no_intention_of_giving_Konate_a_big_contract\"><\/span>Liverpool have no intention of giving Konate a big contract<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ibrahima Konate plays for Liverpool (Photo by Julian Finney\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>However, Liverpool are reluctant to sign big contracts under their evolving financial structure.<\/p>\n<p>Teamtalk further claims that Liverpool already have Tottenham Hotspur&#8217;s lightning-fast Dutch centre-back Micky van de Ven in mind as a replacement should Konate eventually leave.<\/p>\n<p>Van de Ven, 24, has been one of Spurs&#8217; standout performers since joining from Wolfsburg in 2023.<\/p>\n<p>The Dutch international is highly praised for his recovery pace, intellectual approach and ability to defend wide spaces, and is a perfect fit in Liverpool&#8217;s favored high defensive line.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Reds_set_to_compete_with_Real_Madrid_for_Spurs_star\"><\/span>Reds set to compete with Real Madrid for Spurs star<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mickey van de Ven plays for Tottenham (Photo by Dan Mullan\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>However, signing him would require a huge transfer fee, so Tottenham are unlikely to consider negotiating unless they face an unusual bid.<\/p>\n<p>Spurs value Van de Ven as one of their marquee players, especially considering his long-term contract until 2029.<\/p>\n<p>Adding to the intrigue, Real Madrid are also monitoring Van de Ven&#8217;s situation. The Spanish giants are preparing for a long-term reinforcement at centre-back.<\/p>\n<p>Madrid scouts have been keeping an eye on the Dutchman since his time at Wolfsburg and see him as a strong candidate for the next part of their defensive rebuild.<\/p>\n<p>Source: Liverpool prepare concrete bid of 100 million euros for sensation they want to play for<\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End -->\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Liverpool face a growing dilemma over Ibrahima Konate&#8217;s future, with Teamtalk reporting that the centre-back is still far from agreeing a new contract at Anfield. The 26-year-old Frenchman, whose contract expires in 2026, believes he deserves to be one of the highest-paid defenders in the Premier League, and his stance has caused a major rift [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23024,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[40],"class_list":{"0":"post-38094","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38094"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38094\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}