Liverpool has clarified its plans for French center-back Ibrahima Konaté. It is reported that if he rejects the club’s contract extension offer, the Reds are inclined to let him leave during the January transfer window, and Liverpool will then sign Marc Guehi as his replacement.
Florian Falk also stated that Bayern Munich has been actively promoting contract renewal talks with Dayot Upamecano, but so far, there has been no substantial progress in the renewal. Considering that the French center-back may leave as a free agent next summer, Bayern has identified two main targets on its transfer list as potential replacements: Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi and Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konaté.
Liverpool has made it clear that if Konaté does not accept the current final renewal offer, the club will consider selling the French defender in January. This will trigger a series of negative knock-on effects on Bayern’s transfer operations—if Liverpool sells Konaté, they will immediately sign Marc Guehi in January as a replacement.
The reason these two players are attractive to Bayern’s management is that, similar to Upamecano’s situation, both Konaté and Guehi’s contracts will expire at the end of this season, meaning Bayern would not need to pay a transfer fee to
Liverpool or Crystal Palace to sign them. However, Bayern has no intention of making signings in the January transfer window.
Liverpool’s plans for the defense are completely opposite to Bayern’s: the Reds will not offer Konaté a new contract, and the existing renewal proposal is said to place Konaté among the club’s top earners. If the player rejects this proposal, the club will choose to sell him.
