James Pearce has voiced his confidence that one Liverpool player will agree to a contract extension, with the man in question already in discussions over a prospective new deal at Anfield.
Much of the focus around contracts in L4 has been on Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold, each of whom will be free agents in eight months’ time as things stand.
While those trio don’t appear to be significantly closer to a resolution on their respective futures, another member of Arne Slot’s squad seems to be much further along the path towards putting pen to paper.
Speaking on The Athletic’s Walk On podcast, Pearce outlined that Ibrahima Konate is in discussions over a new contract and that he’s ‘very happy’ at Anfield, adding that it’d be a ‘no-brainer’ for the club to secure his services for the long-term.
The journalist said: “We know that there’s obviously a lot of talk about contracts at the minute. We know that Konate has been in talks with the club about an extension.
“I don’t think that there’ll be any problems on that front. I think he’s very happy where he is for Liverpool and it’s an absolute no-brainer to get him tied down for the best years of his career.”
While Konate isn’t the most pressing contractual concern at Anfield – his current deal runs to 2026 – it’s still reassuring to hear that progress is being made behind the scenes on securing his long-term future.
The 25-year-old lost his starting berth towards the end of last season but, ever since being brought on at half-time against Ipswich in Arne Slot’s first competitive Liverpool match, he’s been a consistent starter and – crucially – a consistent performer.
Against Arsenal in what could legitimately be classified as our biggest game of the campaign so far, the Frenchman was immense, making seven clearances and winning 75% of his duels (Sofascore).
Those aren’t outlying numbers, either – his averages of 2.8 aerial duels won and 3.7 clearances per 90 minutes are the second highest in the Liverpool squad for both metrics behind Virgil van Dijk (WhoScored).
FSG appear to have learned from the needless dalliance around the contracts of Salah, Trent and the captain to ensure that they don’t find themselves in the same situation with Konate next year.
We hope that new deals for the other trio will be sorted out soon, although we’d certainly welcome news of a contract extension for our number 5 as well.
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