Konate Says Liverpool Teammate ‘Refused’ Gym Work Post-Training
Liverpool centre-back Ibrahima Konate has claimed that one of the club’s summer recruits effectively refused to take part in a gym session after training.
It’s fair to say Arne Slot’s Liverpool side have endured a tough start to their Premier League title defence.
The Merseyside club currently sit eighth in the English top-flight, having won six and lost five of their 11 league matches, including defeats against Manchester United at Anfield and Manchester City at the Etihad last time out.
So far, summer signings Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong, and Milos Kerkez have failed to have the positive impact that was expected of them.
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Meanwhile, Hugo Ekitike has impressed most with six goals and one assist in 16 appearances since arriving from Eintracht Frankfurt for a fee worth up to £79 million.
But there may still be question marks about the forward’s temperament, which came off the back of his sending off against Southampton in the Carabao Cup.
The 23-year-old, who came through the ranks at Reims, was shown a second yellow card for taking off his shirt while celebrating, which then led to him being suspended for Liverpool’s trip to Crystal Palace, which they lost 2-1 in September.
Currently, Ekitike’s attention will be on France’s upcoming World Cup qualifier against Azerbaijan, with Les Bleus having already qualified for the tournament after a 4-0 win over Ukraine, during which the Liverpool forward scored on Thursday.
With Mbappe having left the squad due to an ankle injury, Ekitike will likely feature in Baku on Sunday.
But he may not be best pleased with his France and Liverpool teammate Konate after the defender claimed Ekitike “didn’t want to” go to the gym when he was “supposed” to earlier this season.
"I challenged him when he arrived in Liverpool, where the intensity is different from the Bundesliga,” Konate told RMC.
“Everyone experienced that. He was a bit tired during training.
“One anecdote: one day we were supposed to go to the gym, he didn't want to, I said to him: 'Do you want to go to the French national team?' I found him in the gym two minutes later (smile).
“I think he turned a corner because of that. I was extremely happy for him (after his goal against Ukraine), he had some difficult times at PSG, he was criticised."
Topics: Hugo Ekitike, Ibrahima Konate, Premier League, Football, Gym
Luke Davies