Ibrahima Konaté Leaves Liverpool for Real Madrid on Free Transfer
Ibrahima Konaté is walking away from Liverpool for nothing – and straight into one of the most lucrative defensive contracts in European football.
The French centre-back, whose deal at Anfield expires on June 30, is poised to join Real Madrid on a free transfer after failing to agree fresh terms with Liverpool despite prolonged negotiations. His departure was confirmed last weekend, announced alongside the dismissal of head coach Arne Slot.
Konaté later addressed the exit with a message that underlined the abruptness of the split, admitting he was “deeply saddened that I didn't get the chance to say goodbye to all of you at the last game.”
Now the scale of his next move has come into focus.
A Galáctico wage for a free transfer
Fabrizio Romano revealed that Konaté has given a verbal agreement to sign for Real Madrid, with a four-year contract in place – provided Florentino Pérez wins the upcoming presidential election and fends off the challenge of Enrique Riquelme.
Spanish outlet El Desmarque has gone further, outlining the financial package waiting for the former RB Leipzig defender at the Santiago Bernabéu.
Konaté is set to sign a deal running until 2030, worth a staggering €24 million gross per season. That works out at roughly €460,000 a week – around £400,000 before tax – putting him among the highest-paid defenders in the world.
Over four years, the contract is reportedly worth around £83 million if he sees it out in full.
And that is only the salary.
With no transfer fee involved, Real Madrid are ready to hand Konaté a signing-on bonus in the region of £17 million. It is the kind of figure that explains why Europe’s elite increasingly circle free agents with the same intensity once reserved for blockbuster transfer targets.
Konaté is understood to have rejected a huge proposal from Saudi Arabia in order to join Real, opting for the Bernabéu stage over the Middle East riches. Even so, his new salary dwarfs what Liverpool were prepared to offer. He was said to be on around £150,000 a week at Anfield – barely more than a third of what he will earn in Spain.
Liverpool left to rebuild – and look to Burnley
For Liverpool, the timing could hardly be more brutal. A new manager in Andoni Iraola, a defensive leader walking out for free, and two more pillars – Andy Robertson and Mo Salah – heading for the exit. The spine that carried Liverpool through title challenges and European nights is splintering.
The club needs reinforcements, quickly. And the first name seriously linked as a Konaté replacement is not one many would have predicted.
TEAMtalk report that Liverpool are targeting Burnley defender Maxime Estève, a player who only arrived at Turf Moor last summer in a £10.3 million move from Montpellier and suffered relegation in his first Premier League season.
Relegation, though, did not hide his talent. Estève impressed enough in a struggling Burnley side to draw interest from Liverpool, Chelsea and Crystal Palace, all tracking the 22-year-old Frenchman as a potential long-term option at centre-back.
Burnley, preparing for life back in the Championship, are understood to be resigned to losing him in the upcoming window. They are already lining up Middlesbrough captain Dael Fry as the man to anchor their defence once Estève departs.
So Liverpool stand at a crossroads. Konaté is trading Anfield for the Bernabéu and a wage packet that reflects Real Madrid’s faith in his prime years. Back on Merseyside, a club used to shopping at the very top of the market is weighing a move for a relegated defender as it tries to piece together a new back line.
One defender chases Champions League glory and Galáctico money. Another could be asked to step into the gap he leaves behind.
