Liverpool has long been aware of the threat that Virgil van Dijk could leave the club this summer. Now, not only has he supposedly made his mind up, but Ibrahima Konate could be on the way out as well.
That’s according to two stories broken within the last 24 hours, neither of which will be well-received at Anfield. The first, which comes from Fichajes, claims that Van Dijk has already decided to say goodbye.
Rehashing one of its own reports, which claimed that all three of Liverpool’s out-of-contract trio had made up their minds, it suggests that defeats in the Champions League and Carabao Cup have helped settle the matter for Van Dijk. It’s also claimed that a “lack of recent success” has affected his motivation.
That seems highly far-fetched, given that it conveniently forgets to mention Liverpool is on the brink of securing the Premier League title. Faced with the impossible task of replacing Jurgen Klopp, new boss Arne Slot has come in and shown a really positive direction of travel.
But Van Dijk has seen enough, supposedly, and will now take his pick of several top European clubs. The report suggests that PSG currently has the upper hand. Over in England, FourFourTwo has relayed this story from the Spanish press. But it has also added its own information — which will not be of much comfort to Liverpool either.
It suggests that Konate is the “more serious” target for PSG. Younger and homegrown, he would slot neatly into the new-look side being built at the Parc des Princes, centered around the healthy supply of Parisian talent.
(Image: Xavier Laine/Getty Images)
FourFourTwo goes as far as to say that Van Dijk is the more likely of the two to stay at Liverpool. In other words, it’s believed there is a chance that Konate could depart as soon as this summer — with the Reds presumably reluctant to find themselves once again staring down the barrel of losing key talent for nothing.
Because Konate’s contract at Liverpool is also starting to run down. His terms will enter their final year in the summer, with progress over a renewal not yet forthcoming.
All this speculation around so many key players is far from ideal. In one sense, Slot will be afforded a brilliant chance to build from a position of strength this summer, but that sentiment rings somewhat hollow if his potentially title-winning team is gutted before he gets the chance to enter the transfer market.
Naturally, new sporting director Richard Hughes will be working within parameters set from above. The club also has to draw the line somewhere — and in Van Dijk’s case in particular, it would be understandable if Michael Edwards was behind a reluctance to agree any especially long-term deal with the 33-year-old.
But it is hardly a good look to have so much of the team’s spine linked with transfers away, even if a degree of gossip around this time of year is inevitable. Whatever the truth of these latest reports, Liverpool could do with some certainty sooner rather than later.
