Real Madrid have reached a verbal agreement to sign former Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate on a free transfer, Fabrizio Romano reported on Tuesday afternoon.
Real Madrid have been looking for central defenders for the last few weeks, and it is clear that this would be the position they would be working for the most.
Incoming manager Jose Mourinho also reportedly wants to focus on a few defensive signings rather than superstars, and that is exactly what Real Madrid have started doing.
Konate's a player Real Madrid have been linked with for over a year, and things are finally speeding up with the Frenchman.
Fabrizio Romano drops a major Real Madrid transfer agreement update
According to Fabrizio Romano, Real Madrid would sign Konate and announce him depending on if or when Florentino Perez wins the elections and stays on as the president at Real Madrid.
The Italian journalist says it is a four-year deal, and he basically confirmed what El Chiringuito said the other day about Konate holding off interest from Saudi Arabia to sign with Real Madrid.
It obviously still has not been signed, and fans would have to wait until the conclusion of the elections for anything this big to be confirmed. This would take up the tally of French players at the club to five.
Real Madrid were showing interest in Konate last year, but left the negotiations at the time out of respect for Liverpool as they wanted to keep the good relationship with the English giants intact - especially after what happened during the Trent Alexander-Arnold transfer saga.
This is an interesting signing for Los Blancos. While he did not have the best season at Liverpool this year, he remains one of the better central defenders in the world on his day.
Before this season, Konate was a brilliant defender who was playing good football. His partnership with Trent was great, too, as he was able to cover for him relatively well.
Now, if Real Madrid sign the player, they would be hoping for the version of Konate that was there when Trent used to play for Liverpool. That would be one big reason why they are signing the Frenchman, and they would not want the Konate from last season to be playing at that level for Real Madrid.
Obviously, these things cannot be predicted. They would hope that the player brings back his best form, and would also be looking out for Jose Mourinho making the good version of Konate come out of his shell.
On his day, the Frenchman is one of the best defenders in the world, and you would rarely get anyone better at covering for Trent than Konate did for a few years.
Add us as a preferred source on Google