Ibrahima Konaté

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Ibrahima Konaté
Liverpool FC gegen 1. FSV Mainz 05 (Testspiel 23. Juli 2021) 15 (cropped).jpg
Konaté playing for Liverpool in 2021
Personal information
Full name Ibrahima Konaté[1]
Date of birth (1999-05-25) 25 May 1999 (age 22)[2]
Place of birth Paris, France
Height 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)[3]
Position(s) Centre-back[4]
Club information
Current team
 Liverpool
Number 5
Youth career
2009–2014 Paris FC
2014–2017 Sochaux
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2017 Sochaux B 9 (1)
2017 Sochaux 12 (1)
2017–2021 RB Leipzig 66 (2)
2021– Liverpool 6 (0)
National team
2014–2015 France U16 12 (2)
2015–2016 France U17 7 (0)
2017 France U19 1 (0)
2018 France U20 1 (0)
2019–2021 France U21 13 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12:02, 20 December 2021 (UTC)

Ibrahima Konaté (born 25 May 1999) is a French professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Liverpool.

Early life[]

Konaté was born in Paris.[5]

Club career[]

Early career[]

Konaté grew up in the 11th arrondissement of Paris and played as a teen for Paris FC youth teams.[6] When he was 14, he left for Sochaux and joined their boarding academy at the age of 15.[7] He started his career as a striker before moving to the defence.[6]

Sochaux[]

Konaté made his professional debut for Sochaux in a 1–0 Ligue 2 loss to Auxerre on 7 February 2017, at the age of 17.[8]

RB Leipzig[]

After a successful debut season, with 12 games and 1 goal in half a season, Konaté joined RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga on 12 June 2017 on a five-year contract by free transfer.[9][10][11] Konaté scored his first Leipzig goal in a 4–0 win against Fortuna Düsseldorf.[12]

Liverpool[]

On 28 May 2021, Liverpool announced that they had reached an agreement with RB Leipzig to acquire Konaté on 1 July, pending international clearance and a work permit being granted.[13] The club had already agreed personal terms with the player in April,[14] and triggered his release clause of approximately £36 million in May 2021.[15] On 18 September, Konaté made his Premier League debut, starting alongside Virgil Van Dijk, and kept a clean sheet in a 3-0 victory against Crystal Palace.[16] He made his second start of the season partnering Virgil van Dijk in the first North-West Derby of the season, in which Liverpool beat Manchester United 5-0. It was the heaviest defeat inflicted on United by Liverpool since 1895 and the heaviest defeat United had suffered without scoring in since 1955.[17] Konate won plaudits from fans for how he handled star players like Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes and also featured in Garth Crooks' team of the week, with Crooks saying, "No frills or skills but he does use his power and strength to maximum effect. This wasn't Chelsea versus Norwich but Manchester United against Liverpool and Mason Greenwood, Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcus Rashford hardly had a kick."[18]

International career[]

Born in France, Konaté is of Malian descent.[19] He is a youth international for France.

Style of play[]

Konaté playing for RB Leipzig in 2019

Konaté has been compared to Virgil van Dijk due to his positional play, tackling, pace and strength.[20][21] Guido Schafer said that: "he is tall, fast, good technique and he is a little bit of Virgil van Dijk...He has very high-class potential. He is a great athlete, he has good speed and there are no silly tackles - he is an intelligent player."[22] Konaté is also well known for his passing and strength in the air.[23]

Career statistics[]

As of match played 22 December 2021[24]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Europe Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Sochaux II 2016–17 CFA 2 9 1 — — — 9 1
Sochaux 2016–17 Ligue 2 12 1 0 0 1 0 — 13 1
RB Leipzig 2017–18 Bundesliga 16 0 0 0 — 4[a] 0 20 0
2018–19 Bundesliga 28 1 6 0 — 9[a] 2 43 3
2019–20 Bundesliga 8 0 1 0 — 2[b] 0 11 0
2020–21 Bundesliga 14 1 1 0 — 6[b] 0 21 1
Total 66 2 8 0 — 21 2 95 4
Liverpool 2021–22 Premier League 6 0 0 0 2 0 2[b] 0 10 0
Career total 92 4 8 0 3 0 23 2 126 6
  1. ^ a b Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
  2. ^ a b c Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League

Honours[]

RB Leipzig

References[]

  1. ^ "Ibrahima Konaté". Bundesliga. Archived from the original on 13 February 2021.
  2. ^ "Ibrahima Konaté: Overview". ESPN. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  3. ^ "Ibrahima Konaté: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  4. ^ "Ibrahima Konaté: Profile". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  5. ^ "Ibrahima Konaté". L'Équipe (in French). Paris. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  6. ^ a b Julien Laurens (2021-05-28). "Ibrahima Konate's move to Liverpool is just reward for the hard-working French U-21 star". ESPN.
  7. ^ "Who is Ibrahima Konate?". Bundesliga. 28 May 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  8. ^ "LFP.fr - Ligue de Football Professionnel - Domino's Ligue 2 - Saison 2016/2017 - 24ème journée - FC Sochaux-Montbéliard / AJ Auxerre". www.lfp.fr.
  9. ^ "RB Leipzig land French talent Ibrahima Konate - bundesliga.com". bundesliga.com - the official Bundesliga website.
  10. ^ "RasenBallsport Leipzig - Neuzugang-Ibrahima-Konate". redbulls.
  11. ^ "Who is Ibrahima Konate?". Bundesliga. 28 May 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  12. ^ "Fortuna Dusseldorf v RB Leipzig Live Commentary & Result, 27/01/2019, Bundesliga". Goal.com. 27 January 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  13. ^ "Liverpool agree deal for Konaté". BBC Sport. 28 May 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  14. ^ "Liverpool seal £36m deal for RB Leipzig defender Ibrahima Konaté". Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  15. ^ Reddy, Melissa (28 May 2021). "Ibrahima Konate: Liverpool close to sealing transfer after triggering RB Leipzig defender's release clause". The Independent. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  16. ^ "Report: Mane, Salah and Keita goals see off Palace at Anfield". Liverpool FC. Retrieved 2021-09-23.
  17. ^ Jackson, Jamie. "Manchester United's Ole Gunnar Solskjær calls 5-0 thrashing 'darkest day'". The Guardian. Guardian News & Media Limited. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  18. ^ Crooks, Garth. "Garth Crooks' team of the week: Alisson, Keita, Mount, Salah, Foden". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  19. ^ Touré, Noyine (February 7, 2019). "Ibrahima Konaté affole l'Europe".
  20. ^ "Who is Ibrahima Konate?". Bundesliga. 28 May 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  21. ^ Alex Young (29 March 2021). "Who is Ibrahima Konaté: Liverpool target is 'the new Virgil van Dijk' but has worrying injury record". Evening Standard. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  22. ^ Alex Young (29 March 2021). "Who is Ibrahima Konaté: Liverpool target is 'the new Virgil van Dijk' but has worrying injury record". Evening Standard. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  23. ^ Alex Young (29 March 2021). "Who is Ibrahima Konaté: Liverpool target is 'the new Virgil van Dijk' but has worrying injury record". Evening Standard. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  24. ^ "I. Konaté". Soccerway. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  25. ^ "RB Leipzig 0 Bayern Munich 3". BBC Sport. 25 May 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  26. ^ "RB Leipzig 1 Borussia Dortmund 4". BBC Sport. 13 May 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2021.

External links[]

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