While the contract situation around Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold is now well-publicised, Liverpool could have another issue.
With Salah, Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold all into the final year of their deals, it has rightly become an ongoing concern for the media.
Liverpool are expected to hold talks with all three players over extending their terms, though Alexander-Arnold’s latest comments suggest he is the more likely to consider options elsewhere.
• READ: Liverpool need to take the hint after Alexander-Arnold’s contract remarks
The hope is that the club will agree new terms with the trio before the end of the campaign, as Arne Slot can ill afford to lose any of them.
But there is another looming threat when it comes to Ibrahima Konate, who is one of four players whose contracts run out in 2026.
Andy Robertson is also tied down for two more seasons along with Caoimhin Kelleher and Nat Phillips, though it is already widely accepted that the latter pair will move on.
Konate, who will have only just turned 27 when his current terms expire, has been highlighted as a concern that is “not spoken about enough” by Liverpool journalist David Lynch.
“It’s not spoken about enough really that he’s inside two years now,” he told Anfield Agenda.
“That really needs to get sorted.”
He explained: “[When it] gets to two years, things start to get a little bit more shaky then in terms of what interest you can fend off, whether the player starts to look for more money elsewhere.
“It does put you in a tricky position really, so it’s something Liverpool have to keep an eye on [with players].”
Talks are reportedly underway
There have been previous reports of Liverpool opening talks with Konate’s agent, but those were claimed to have begun last December and the most recent update came in May.
Whether there has been any progress in those negotiations is unclear, with L’Equipe reporting four months ago that the club were “confident” over an extension but that Konate was “seen as an opportunity for many European clubs.”
Paris Saint-Germain, Konate’s hometown club, have been regularly linked with a move, with the player admitting that he could see himself playing for them in the future.
Given his excellent start to the season under new head coach Arne Slot it should be a priority for Liverpool to retain the services of their No. 5.
With the transfer window now closed, sporting director Richard Hughes can look to push forward with such matters, as ensuring the commitment of Slot’s existing squad is arguably even more important than adding to it.
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