CONTRIBUTORS: Dominic King, Aadam Patel, David Coverdale, Joe Bernstein and Luke Power
Real Madrid’s pursuit of Trent Alexander-Arnold has been well-documented but Liverpool Confidential understands their interest in another Reds defender, Ibrahima Konate, is also very real.
The champions of Europe and Spain remain confident of convincing Alexander-Arnold to join them on a free transfer this summer despite Liverpool’s best attempts to keep the vice-captain and local lad.
And Florentino Perez is also keen on 25-year-old Konate, whose contract runs out at the end of next season. The defender also has admirers in the French capital at tonight’s Champions League opponents Paris Saint-Germain, though a move there is more unlikely.
Liverpool and Konate’s representatives opened talks over a new deal for the Frenchman last year but an agreement is not believed to be close.
And Real could be poised to make a swoop, though they may not do so this summer and instead wait for him to run down his contract, as they have with the likes of Kylian Mbappe and of course are trying to with Alexander-Arnold.
Konate is a pivotal figure in the dressing room at Anfield and often described as the ‘class clown’ who is always cracking jokes and keeping the spirits high – not that they have needed much lifting in recent months.
He started on the bench for the opening game of this season with Jarell Quansah given the nod but after coming on at half-time of that trip to Ipswich’s Portman Road, Konate has not looked back and formed a formidable partnership with captain Virgil van Dijk.
He has played 120 times for Liverpool since joining from RB Leipzig in summer 2021 for £36million, scoring five goals, winning the FA Cup and League Cup in his first season and the latter again last year. Konate has 21 caps for France and was part of the team that finished as runners-up at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
At this stage, there have been no indications that Konate is in a rush to leave but his unsolved contract may present a problem for Liverpool in the mid-term future.
Training schedule adapted to respect Ramadan
With Ramadan starting over the weekend, Liverpool’s training schedule has been adapted to accommodate Mohamed Salah and Ibrahima Konate, who will fast between sunrise and sunset.
Confidential understands the schedule is adapted individually and collectively with details provided through various departments at the club and it’s then up to the manager, Arne Slot, to buy into it.
Factors like training times, sleep opportunities and dietary requirements are all taken into account for Muslim players in the side.
In 2022, Sadio Mane revealed that then-captain Jordan Henderson spoke to Jurgen Klopp on behalf of Muslim players like Mane, Salah, Konate and Naby Keita and Klopp agreed to move training sessions from the afternoon to the morning.
Speaking to beIN SPORTS, Mane said: ‘It’s not easy because playing and training and doing Ramadan is not easy at all. But before Ramadan we tried to speak with the captain to tell the boss maybe we can change the schedule and train in the morning.
‘It’s easier for us. If you train in the morning then you have time to rest and go home. If you train around two or three, it’s gonna be tough! The coach said yes and I think that makes it easier and we’re trying to do our best.’
The current sunset time in Liverpool is approximately 6pm and shortly before 7pm in Paris, which means that the likes of Salah and Konate won’t be fasting during the Champions League clash against PSG.
Though they are expected to be fasting during this weekend’s Premier League clash against Southampton (3pm kick-off) and next weekend’s Carabao Cup final against Newcastle (4.30pm kick-off).
Konate also took the opportunity to have a laugh by commenting ‘brother be careful please’ when Salah posted a picture of himself standing on his sofa and putting up Ramadan decorations in his home.
Reds scout In Bruges for next gem
Nothing sparks debate more on social media than the prospect of Liverpool signing players and, with Arne Slot having said recently that summer transfer plans are progressing, the frenzy won’t subside.
There has been chatter in Belgium that Joel Ordonez is of interest to Liverpool. The Ecuadorian central defender has caught the eye of many scouts in Europe with his performances in the Champions League for Club Bruges this season.
He is only 20 but Ordonez played each of Club Bruges’ 11 European games and the Belgian league continues to be a competition where gems can be unearthed.
Aston Villa and Everton have been mentioned but Liverpool’s scouting network is thorough and they will be familiar with him.
There is no question Liverpool will be strengthening in every department. Whichever team signs Ordonez, who arrived in Europe in the summer of 2023, will be getting a player of great potential.
Agent Szoboszlai?
We spoke last week about the running machine Dominik Szoboszlai – and now there is the joke that the Hungary captain covers so much ground he may well also be chief negotiator for Liverpool’s summer transfer plans!
Mail Sport revealed way back in November how the Reds had kept a watching brief on Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez and their pursuit of the Hungarian left back is definitely one to keep an eye on going into the summer.
Szoboszlai was asked last week who his best friend in English football is and said it was indeed Kerkez. Maybe he can put in a good word with his pal ahead of the summer.
Reds sporting director Richard Hughes has been spotted watching his old team Bournemouth several times this season and his kids all have Cherries shirts. He maintained strong relations with the club and signed Kerkez for £15.5million from Arne Slot’s old side, AZ Alkmaar, in 2023.
Confidential understands Bournemouth are not in a position where they will be forced to sell any of their key assets this summer and would look to treble their outlay on Kerkez, which values him at around £45m.
Kerkez also shares an agent with Liverpool forward Federico Chiesa in Fali Ramadani. He is definitely on the radar of Slot’s side but it is unsure at this stage whether he is a priority target or not.
There are plenty of stars at Bournemouth that the Reds may consider this summer and centre back Dean Huijsen looks like one that could be set for a big move, though head coach Andoni Iraola – another on the radar of giant clubs – would not want a window of mass departures.
Why Liverpool documentary took so long
In the week of the Oscars, Amazon Prime’s new release with a four-part docuseries on Jurgen Klopp’s final year at Liverpool was hardly one to trouble the scorers at any awards evenings.
Indeed, there were dilemmas faced by all parties in getting this series, which has been met with mixed reviews from fans, over the line.
First of all, Klopp announced he was to leave the club not long after Lorton Entertainment officially announced they were filming for the show. Viewers wanting a behind-the-scenes peek into his departure were let down, instead shown stock footage of press conferences and games.
With the Reds’ title push also falling flat, Lorton were forced to pivot the show to a more generic look at Klopp’s nine years at Liverpool. However, the fly-on-the-wall series only had camera access for about five per cent of his stint at the club.
Therefore, any context around his journey to Merseyside or even the euphoric Premier League title win had to be provided by archived footage which many fans had seen before.
But the biggest issue was how a documentary on Klopp would upset new manager Arne Slot. Say, for example, he had struggled for form in his first season at Liverpool, would a series coming out on his legendary predecessor help him? Absolutely not.
On the flip side, with Liverpool firing on all cylinders to win a Premier League title – and perhaps two more trophies – those connected with the club would only want to look forward and not back. Many fans have echoed that sentiment, saying they are not bothered to watch it.
There had been murmurs several months ago that the docuseries might be pulled altogether but Lorton got it over the line.
To be fair to them, it is not bad and it is a nice watch for Reds fans – it just isn’t the ‘warts and all’ peek behind the curtain that many would have been craving.
Get me at a better angle, lads
Arne Slot recently returned to old club PEC Zwolle to have a painting of him re-done.
There was an illustration on the walls from his playing days but Slot did not like it, according to people at the Dutch club.
So he paid €2,500 (£2,090) to have it repainted and here is the outcome.
Looking good, boss…!
Wembley error over wrong ticket information
Scores of Liverpool fans this week received an email from Wembley Stadium saying their original note about Carabao Cup final tickets contained incorrect information and it should be ignored.
‘We would like to inform you that the previous email you received with your e-tickets contained incorrect information,’ read the email from Wembley. ‘Please disregard the email and the e-tickets attached as they will no longer be valid.’
Many fans travelling to Paris this evening also had trouble downloading their QR codes to get into the ground but supporter group Spirit of Shankly published a helpful step-by-step guide to get around this problem.
Meanwhile, Liverpool will be clamping down on Reds who buy season tickets but rarely attend games. As of August, fans must attend 15 of 19 home league games at least across the season or face not being permitted to renew.
This is part of their ‘every seat, every game’ policy to get Anfield at capacity each week and thus increase atmosphere. It creates problems if, say, a fan is not local and cannot attend night matches or if they have a nasty illness or injury that rules them out for several weeks.
But helpfully, if fans list their ticket for sale on the official exchange site, then this will count as an attended game even if it does not sell. Alternatively, it also counts as a match attended if they transfer the ticket to a friend or family member.
Stevie fails in Saudi but another ex-Reds midfielder steps up
In what may be bittersweet reading for Steven Gerrard, Al Ettifaq have enjoyed a notable upturn in form since parting ways with him on January 30.
After winning two of their last 14 league games under Gerrard, the Saudi side have since won four of their next six.
That run has catapulted them from the brink of a relegation scrap to seventh in the table. One highlight has been a 3-2 victory over Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr.
Few have benefited more than former Kop darling Georginio Wijnaldum, who has been scoring for fun since being moved into an attacking midfield role.
The Dutchman has bagged six goals and two assists in those six games. He has picked up a knack of scoring important late goals, including the 89th-minute winner against Al Nassr.
New manager Saad Al Shehri, a local who came through the club’s academy, has brought back the joy. He started perfectly with a 3-1 win against Al Shabab after just one training session in charge on January 31.
After Wijnaldum’s 101st-minute strike in that game, the substitutes stormed the pitch in celebration, with one chap volleying his water bottle high into the air with a connection Gerrard would have been proud of.
Pile enjoying life in New Zealand
There is a sombre connection between the two tragic football events of May 1985 – the Bradford City fire and Heysel Stadium disaster – which are shortly coming up to their 40th anniversaries.
Liverpool, of course, were participants in the European Cup final against Juventus in Brussels on May 29 in which 39 fans lost their lives but less well known is that their second team played at Valley Parade on May 9, only two days before the blaze there which killed 56 people during a match between Bradford City and Lincoln.
The Liverpool reserves game was notable because their 1-0 victory against Bradford saw them clinch the Central League title (the reserves league) but also impacted on their European final later that month.
Reds goalkeeper Bob Bolder badly broke his ankle at Bradford and was therefore unable to take his intended place on the substitutes bench at Heysel as understudy to Bruce Grobbelaar.
In his place, a complete rookie 18-year-old Chris Pile became Liverpool’s deputy goalkeeper on what turned out to be one of the worst nights in European football history.
It was the only time Pile was ever involved in a first-team squad for Liverpool. He later played for non-league Southport before emigrating to New Zealand where he still lives.
And for you, Arsenal, the Chase is over…
In this week’s episode of famous faces spotted at Anfield, quiz ace Darragh ‘The Menace’ Ennis – of The Chase fame – was in the house for Liverpool’s win over Newcastle last midweek.
The night coincided with his team further strengthening their lead on the Gunners atop the Premier League and taking a step closer to home so it is fair to say: for you, Arsenal, the Chase is over.
Red Riddle
Sticking on the theme of quizzing, here is this week’s Red Riddle. Last week, I asked you to name the five players who had played for both Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain ahead of tonight’s clash.
Well done to all of you who got the correct results and the one of you who also offered manager Gerard Houllier. The answers were: Nicolas Anelka, David Ngog, Mamadou Sakho, Momo Sissoko and Georginio Wijnaldum.
I also asked you to name the player who scored Liverpool’s goal on their last visit to the Parc des Princes and the correct response was James Milner.
With Liverpool playing Southampton this weekend, can you name the 20 players to play for both since 1992? Any score in the teens is good going.
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