Liverpool have received a potential boost in their bid to keep Ibrahima Konate after he confessed he doesn’t care too much about spending money.
The defender is a target for moneybags Real Madrid and his contract expires at the end of this season.
Two incentives Madrid can typically offer is the chance to compete for glory and sufficient cash to compete with the British heavyweights.
But they might have a hard time swaying Konate by jangling a few euros in front of him after he admitted he is ‘too afraid’ to spend lavishly for fear of being judged by his brothers.
‘I became the player I am today thanks to each one of them [my brothers],’ Konate said. ‘From my first steps at Paris Universite Club twenty years ago to Liverpool, they have always been a fundamental help.
‘I didn’t spend anything at all on hedonistic and personal pleasures. No new car, no clothes, no shoes. Nothing. I was too afraid they’d tell me I’d changed.
Ibrahima Konate has admitted he is ‘too afraid’ to spend money – and that could be a potential boost for Liverpool
The Reds hope to hang on to him despite the interest of Real Madrid, but at least it might be hard for them to sway him with cash
‘You have no idea how much footballers need them [family]. Many people, more or less well-intentioned, roam around us. Ninety-five per cent of them come because I’m Konate, the football player, and not Ibrahima, the person.
‘They want to take advantage of my fame, but they don’t really care about me (…) As soon as someone wants to approach me, they filter them out.’
However, he did concede he could spend big on his attire. ‘I’m not going to lie to you: I overdid it a bit, especially with clothes,’ he said.
The battle, it seems, is more for Liverpool to offer him an environment where he feels he can win trophies and live comfortably than line his pockets.
He is currently estimated to be on £70,000 per week, which ranks very low compared to most of the first-team squad and even fringe players. Conor Bradley, Joe Gomez, and Giorgi Mamardashvili are thought to be on more, according to the Capology databse.
It will be a major embarrassment if Liverpool allow another key player to join Madrid on a free or on the cheap after losing Trent Alexander-Arnold – though they did at least squeeze £10million from his exit.
Madrid are confident that they can lure the 26-year-old, sources in Spain have told Daily Mail Sport.
Any overseas club can formally speak to Konate from January 1 when he enters the final six months of his contract.
The Frenchman did admit that he can be a lavish spender on clothes from time to time
It is understood, though, that the defender has not communicated any desire to leave to Liverpool and the player has not yet fully made up his mind.
Liverpool opened contract talks with their centre-back last November but no deal has yet been struck.
Konate was forced to withdraw from the France squad last week. He was already nursing an injury from Liverpool’s 2-1 loss to Chelsea, but after training on his own was named on the bench for France’s 3-0 win over Azerbaijan.
Arne Slot recently said: ‘I don’t know if it is a big injury, but what I do know is he limped a little bit and when I asked him he said he felt his quad a little bit.
‘Then, for me, all alarm bells go off because in another sprint you never know if that is going to go good.
‘It might be OK that he went off early enough but it was clear I had to take him off because he was limping.’
