Premier League club 'ready to sell' key player this summer to avoid Real Madrid free transfer

A top Premier League side are considering selling a key player this summer to prevent him leaving to join Real Madrid for free next year.

After over a year of rumours, former Liverpool star Trent Alexander-Arnold controversially left his boyhood club to join La Liga giants Real Madrid at the end of the 2024/25 season.

In order to secure his services ahead of the Club World Cup, Real Madrid paid a £10million fee for the defender, despite him agreeing to join as a free agent after his Liverpool contract expired at the end of June.

Since securing a highly-profitable deal for Alexander-Arnold, it has been reported that Real Madrid will now make signing players who are available as free agents their transfer policy going forward.

In doing so, the Spanish side have put clubs across the world on notice, with many of them considering selling key players this summer to avoid losing them for free if Madrid come knocking next year.

Trent Alexander-Arnold joined Real Madrid in June. (Image: Getty)

Of course, after going through the whole saga surrounding Alexander-Arnold's future, no club would be more frustrated to lose a player to Real Madrid as a free agent than Liverpool.

But it appears this could be a real possibility, as a report from Spanish outlet Marca has revealed that Ibrahima Konate is keen to follow his former teammate to Madrid next summer.

However, Liverpool are said to be well aware of this and they are adamant that it will not happen, meaning that they would be open to selling their key defender this summer should he fail to agree to a new contract.

The report claims that Konate has told Liverpool that he would be willing to leave the club this summer, but only if his possible destination is Real Madrid.

Ibrahima Konate has made 132 appearances for Liverpool. (Image: Getty)

Although it would remain Liverpool's preference to tie Konate down to a new deal ahead of it expiring in June next year, the fact that the Frenchman has reportedly turned down two proposals suggests that he has his heart set on a move to the Bernabeu.

If Liverpool are to sell Konate this summer, then it appears that Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi would be their preferred replacement, with several reports linking the Reds with the England international.