Liverpool sign French centre-back Ibrahima Konate from RB Leipzig

French defender Ibrahima Konate has completed his transfer to Premier League side Liverpool, the club confirmed on Saturday. Konate will be leaving Bundesliga club RB Leipzig at the end of the month. “I’m really happy to be joining such a massive club like Liverpool”, told Konate to Liverpoolfc.com. The 22-year-old predominantly plays as a centre-back.

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“It’s a really exciting moment for me and my family and I am really looking forward to meeting my new teammates, the staff and getting started on this new chapter”, said the Frenchman. “Right now, my focus is on the U21 European Championships with France, but after this competition I know I will be joining one of the best teams in the world and that gives me a great feeling”, quoted Liverpoolfc.com.

Konate was part of the Leipzig team that finished second in the Bundesliga 2020-21 season. “I have worked very hard for many years to get to this point, but I would like to say a big thank you to everyone at RB Leipzig and all the people I worked with there – the coaches, my teammates, the staff and especially the fans”, told the defender to Liverpoolfc.com. 

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“Your support helped me grow up during my time there and become not only a better player, but a better man. And I will always be grateful for it”, added Liverpool’s new recruit.

The move is subject to international clearance and a UK work permit, Liverpoolfc.com reports.

This is Liverpool’s first signing going into the 2021-22 season. After an injury-plagued 2020-21 season, which saw their regular centre-backs such as Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip and Joe Gomez on the sidelines, for the most part, Liverpool were long due to a fitting replacement in their backline.

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“I’m really pleased we’ve been able to add a player of Ibrahima’s quality to our squad, and he is someone I’ve admired for a long time, ever since I first became aware of his potential when he was at Sochaux”, said Klopp, quoted AFP. “After the problems we had with injuries in the centre-half position last season, there’s no doubt it was clear it was an area of the team we needed to strengthen”, he added.