{"id":11228,"date":"2021-05-28T15:59:28","date_gmt":"2021-05-28T15:59:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?p=11228"},"modified":"2021-05-28T14:52:42","modified_gmt":"2021-05-28T14:52:42","slug":"liverpool-sign-leipzigs-ibrahima-konate-to-boost-defensive-options","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/liverpool-sign-leipzigs-ibrahima-konate-to-boost-defensive-options","title":{"rendered":"Liverpool sign Leipzig’s Ibrahima Konate to boost defensive options"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – South-Africa<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>LIVERPOOL \u2013 Jurgen Klopp boosted Liverpool’s centre-back options by signing RB Leipzig defender Ibrahima Konate on a “long-term” contract on Friday.<\/p>\n

France Under-21 international Konate will compete for a position at the heart of Klopp’s defence after they suffered a host of centre-back injuries this season.<\/p>\n

Liverpool triggered the reported \u00a336 million ($50 million) release clause in the 22-year-old’s Leipzig contract to seal his switch to Anfield.<\/p>\n

The move is subject to international clearance and a UK work permit.<\/p>\n

“I’m really happy to be joining such a massive club like Liverpool,” Konate told Liverpool’s website.<\/p>\n

“It’s a really exciting moment for me and my family and I am really looking forward to meeting my new team-mates, the staff and getting started on this new chapter.”<\/p>\n

Konate is Klopp’s first major signing ahead of next season as the Reds boss looks to avoid a repeat of the defensive crisis that ruined their Premier League title defence.<\/p>\n

With Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip all sidelined by long-term injuries, Liverpool were dethroned by Manchester City after a troubled campaign.<\/p>\n

Klopp often had to use Brazilian midfielder Fabinho at centre-back and finished the season with inexperienced duo Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams as his two central defenders.<\/p>\n

“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,” Klopp said.<\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n

Klopp believes Konate’s physical qualities make him ideally suited to the Premier League.<\/p>\n

‘Massive potential’<\/b><\/p>\n

“In Ibrahima we are signing a player who will add to the quality we already have here. His physical attributes are very impressive; he is quick, he is very strong and he is dominant in the air,” Klopp said.<\/p>\n

“He played for a team in the Champions League in high-pressure matches, who have a similar football vision to ourselves.<\/p>\n

“I am confident we are signing a player who can play for us right away, but he is a boy of 22 years of age who has room to improve because of his massive potential.”<\/p>\n

Konate was with Leipzig for four seasons, having come through the academy system at French club Sochaux.<\/p>\n

He featured 21 times for Leipzig this season but only started eight matches in the Bundesliga.<\/p>\n

Part of France’s Under-21 squad at the forthcoming European Championship, Konate said: “After this competition I know I will be joining one of the best teams in the world and that gives me a great feeling.<\/p>\n

“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 team-mates, the staff and especially the fans.<\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n

Ozan Kabak will return to German club Schalke following the centre-back’s loan spell at Anfield in the second half of the season.<\/p>\n

Klopp is likely to make several more high-profile additions, with Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane and Aston Villa playmaker Jack Grealish reportedly among his targets.<\/p>\n

AFP<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. LIVERPOOL \u2013 Jurgen Klopp boosted Liverpool’s centre-back options by signing RB Leipzig defender Ibrahima Konate on a “long-term” contract on Friday. France Under-21 international Konate will compete for a position at the heart of Klopp’s defence after they suffered a host of centre-back injuries this season. Liverpool triggered the reported \u00a336 million […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":11227,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,17],"tags":[274,315,275],"class_list":["post-11228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nLiverpool sign Leipzig's Ibrahima Konate to boost defensive options - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"LIVERPOOL \u2013 Jurgen Klopp boosted Liverpool's centre-back options by signing RB Leipzig defender Ibrahima Konate on a "lo ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/liverpool-sign-leipzigs-ibrahima-konate-to-boost-defensive-options\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Liverpool sign Leipzig's Ibrahima Konate to boost defensive options\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"LIVERPOOL \u2013 Jurgen Klopp boosted Liverpool's centre-back options by signing RB Leipzig defender Ibrahima Konate on a "lo ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/liverpool-sign-leipzigs-ibrahima-konate-to-boost-defensive-options\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-05-28T15:59:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/05\/img-60b1039e7bceb.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"404\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/liverpool-sign-leipzigs-ibrahima-konate-to-boost-defensive-options#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/liverpool-sign-leipzigs-ibrahima-konate-to-boost-defensive-options\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Liverpool sign Leipzig’s Ibrahima Konate to boost defensive options\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-28T15:59:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/liverpool-sign-leipzigs-ibrahima-konate-to-boost-defensive-options\"},\"wordCount\":603,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/liverpool-sign-leipzigs-ibrahima-konate-to-boost-defensive-options#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/05\/img-60b1039e7bceb.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-South-Africa\",\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/liverpool-sign-leipzigs-ibrahima-konate-to-boost-defensive-options#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/liverpool-sign-leipzigs-ibrahima-konate-to-boost-defensive-options\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/liverpool-sign-leipzigs-ibrahima-konate-to-boost-defensive-options\",\"name\":\"Liverpool sign Leipzig's Ibrahima Konate to boost defensive options - 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