£70,000/week star opens up about £54.2million move to Liverpool

After Liverpool sealed a £54.2million to sign Ibrahima Konate from Liverpool, the defender has opened up about the switch from the Bundesliga to the Premier League.

His move to Anfield has been on the cards for some time now and while it was publicly known that the deal was all but certain to go through, without official confirmation from the club, there was no knowing what could happen in the interim to jeopardise a move.

He'll be earning £70,000/week after signing a five-year contract. Now that the deal has been made official, the 22-year-old has been opened up about his big move.

Konate told Liverpoolfc.com: “I’m really happy to be joining such a massive club like Liverpool.

“It’s a really exciting moment for me and my family and I am really looking forward to meeting my new teammates, the staff and getting started on this new chapter.

“Right now, my focus is on the U21 European Championships with France, but after this competition I know I will be joining one of the best teams in the world and that gives me a great feeling.

“I have worked very hard for many years to get to this point, but I would like to say a big thank you to everyone at RB Leipzig and all the people I worked with there – the coaches, my teammates, the staff and especially the fans.

“Your support helped me grow up during my time there and become not only a better player, but a better man and I will always be grateful for it.”

As we reported earlier this month, Ibrahima Konate will be a starter for Liverpool ahead of Joe Gomez until the Englishman is declared fully fit following his worrying patellar tendon injury which, combined with his previous surgeries, is a major concern for the club.

He's a hugely exciting player and has everything needed to succeed in the Premier League and the Champions League not to mention the domestic cups.

Standing at 1.94m (6ft4), the French U21 star is also very quick for a man his size. Much like Joel Matip, he's very good at bursting through opposition press to quickly start an attack.

His long passing could use some work. His success rate is just 37.78% compared to Virgil van Dijk's 58.33% but the Dutchman should be able to help Konate improve on this weakness.

Once again, Liverpool have shown the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United how to get things done in the transfer market by rectifying a rare error from last summer when they decided not to replace Dejan Lovren when he moved to Zenit St. Petersburg.

Manchester City and Chelsea are rather good at transfers but after seeing the Reds fix a weak area of their squad, they'll be worried about next season as it seems likely that Jurgen Klopp's side will be challenging for top honours once again.