Ibrahima Konaté Urged to Stay by Liverpool's Ekitike
Hugo Ekitike has joined the chorus of Liverpool voices urging Ibrahima Konaté to stay – and he did it with three words and a knowing smile.
The Liverpool forward, sidelined with a serious Achilles injury, dropped into Konaté’s Instagram comments after the defender posted a photo of himself reporting for France duty ahead of the World Cup. Supporters had already flooded the post, pleading with the centre-back to sign a new deal and resist a free transfer exit this summer.
Ekitike added his own nudge. Replying to a fan who told Konaté to put pen to paper, he wrote: “signe frere” – “sign, brother” – punctuated with two laughing emojis. Light-hearted, yes. But it hit on the question hanging over Anfield.
A few weeks earlier, Konaté himself sounded relaxed about his future. Speaking at the Hill Dickinson Stadium after helping Liverpool beat Everton, he suggested an agreement was close.
“For sure, there is a big chance I’m here next season,” he said that day. “This is what I always wanted. I’m waiting to sort the contract, but when everything is sorted, you will have to ask Richard (Hughes) what I said to him in September, November and he’s going to say something to make everyone quiet.
“When everything's going to be sorted, I wish you had a discussion with Richard (Hughes) and asked what I said to him a few months ago, before everyone talked about everything. When he’s going to reply, you will see. I just wish that.”
The confidence in those words has not been matched by action. The contract was never signed. The expectation now is stark: Konaté is set to leave Liverpool on a free at the end of the season.
That prospect lands at a delicate moment for Arne Slot. The new head coach is already braced to lose significant figures from his dressing room this summer. Konaté has spoken openly about stepping into that leadership void.
“I think I'm a leader already for this team, for the younger players, and for everyone to be fair,” he said. “We know this is part of the football life. The legends are going to leave one day and after, it's going to be our turn to take the lead. I started this already and it's a big responsibility.
“We start and we play football to have this kind of chance and to make sure everything is fine for this amazing club. But I need the help of everyone as well.”
Those are not the words of a player drifting away quietly. They are the words of someone who sees himself at the heart of the next Liverpool cycle – or at least did.
Konaté arrived from RB Leipzig in 2021 and has spent five years at Anfield, growing into one of Europe’s most imposing defenders when fit. On a free transfer, he will not be short of suitors. Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain have already been linked and will have noted every delay, every hint of uncertainty.
Liverpool, meanwhile, watch a defender in his prime edge closer to the door while one of his team-mates, stuck on the sidelines, types out the sentiment many inside the club share.
Sign, brother. Or walk away and leave a hole that will not be easy to fill.
