Topics: Injury, Ibrahima Konate, Real Madrid, Premier League, William Saliba, David Ornstein, Fabrizio Romano, Transfer News, Transfers, Liverpool
Liverpool have been dealt another huge blow just days after new signing Giovanni Leoni suffered a major injury during his debut match.
Just over a month after joining Liverpool from Italian club Parma in a £26million deal, young centre-back Leoni made his club debut during the Carabao Cup third round clash with Southampton.
An exciting moment for the 18-year-old quickly turned into a nightmare scenario as he was taken off after 81 minutes with what looked like a major injury.
Shortly after, it was confirmed that Leoni had suffered a suspected anterior cruciate ligament injury on his debut, likely ruling him out for the remainder of the season.
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And it looks like things may have gone from bad to worse for Liverpool after transfer expert David Ornstein's latest report has set up a concerning scenario.
With Leoni now likely to miss the rest of the season, Liverpool fans are seriously worried about their lack of depth at centre-back, with Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and Joe Gomez the only fit senior players.
Across the summer transfer window, the Premier League champions were strongly linked with Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi, but the deal fell through in the final hours of deadline day.
And now, Liverpool fans are convinced that Konate is set to leave the club in the near future after Ornstein's confirmed that Arsenal have agreed a new deal with star defender William Saliba.
In recent months, both Konate and Saliba have been strongly linked with a move to La Liga giants Real Madrid, with the Spanish club eager to bring in a star centre-back next summer.
With the contracts of both Antonio Rudiger and David Alaba set to expire in 2026, the new defender would likely come in and immediately start alongside young talent Dean Huijsen, who joined from Bournemouth over the summer.
Ornstein's report for The Athletic states that Saliba is expected to sign until 2030 in coming days, despite the interest from Real Madrid, leading many Liverpool fans to conclude that Konate's move to the Spanish side is all but confirmed.
However, the Saliba news will not stop Liverpool from trying to tie Konate down to a new deal, with the club believed to be eager to retain the Frenchman for the future.
But, according to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, negotiations are currently looking far from postiive, perhaps adding further fuel to the rumours of his desires to join Real Madrid as a free agent.
Speaking on the Here We Go Podcast, he said: “For sure Real Madrid are very attentive to the situation of Ibrahima Konate… For Konate and Liverpool, at the moment it looks difficult. There is still no agreement, still nothing really close.”
He added: “Konate is out of contract in 2026 so there might be an opportunity, and Real Madrid are attentive, I can confirm that. Then again, it’s still early to make decisions.”
Meanwhile, Spanish newspaper Marca are reporting that Real Madrid’s interest in Konate 'is an open secret'.
