'A mess on both sides'
- Published
Ibrahima Konate sounded as confident as ever when he told us in April that there was a "big chance" he would be at Anfield next season.
In fact, he even asked reporters to speak to Liverpool's sporting director Richard Hughes, implying that he always wanted to stay at the club, despite rumours linking him with a move to Real Madrid earlier in the season.
"I'm waiting to sort the contract, but when everything is sorted, you will have to ask Richard what I said to him in September, November and he's going to say something to make everyone quiet," Konate said at the time.
Over the past few months, Arne Slot even described Konate as "vital" and admitted that Liverpool would not be in talks for a new deal if they didn't want Konate to stay.
Now it looks like that contract will not happen and Konate will be on his way out of Anfield without even saying goodbye - unlike Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson, who did say their farewells to fans last weekend.
In truth, it is a mess on both sides of the equation. For Liverpool, this is yet another experienced campaigner leaving on a free transfer. Such a situation should have been resolved last summer in order to get a fee for Konate, or at the latest by the January window.
At 27, Konate is still in the prime of his career and though the options aren't clear at the moment, eyes will light up around the world at getting a centre-half of his calibre for free. Any decision as to his next club may come after the World Cup.
However, that will come down to an agreement on wages, with the simple matter that Konate wants a lot more money than the amount at which Liverpool value him. It leaves the Frenchman in a precarious position and unable to stay at the club where he said he truly wanted to be.
Liverpool believe that any agreement cannot come at the cost of the club's financial equilibrium, nor undermine the allocation of resources within the playing squad. And so it looks like that unlike Salah and Robertson last week, Konate will quietly exit through the back door.
Liverpool's season to forget may have finished last week, but the problems continue for Slot and co.
