AS: Konate faces a crisis of trust as coach at Liverpool, Real Madrid will pay close attention to player developments

Recently, "AS" talked about Real Madrid's recruitment target Konate at the central defender position. His performance in recent games has been criticized by Liverpool coach Slott.

Although Real Madrid introduced Huizen, Carreras and Alexander-Arnold this summer, they are still aware that defense is still a problem that needs to be solved in the future, because some players are about to end their careers in Real Madrid: Alaba and Rudiger's contracts are about to expire and are likely not to be renewed. Alaba's departure is almost a foregone conclusion, while Rudiger's stay depends on his performance and injury. He is currently out due to injury and is not expected to return until the end of the year.

Therefore, Real Madrid is paying close attention to the transfer market and has listed some targets. One of them was Arsenal's Saliba, but that option has disappeared as he reached a new contract extension with the team. Youth academy player Juan Martinez is also considered a potential candidate, but he will need to prove himself at Castilla after missing a full year with a cruciate ligament injury. In addition, Bayern's Upamecano is also one of the targets of attention. Although Bayern is working hard to renew his contract, there is no final result yet.

The most likely player to join is Liverpool's Konate. The 26-year-old central defender has not yet renewed his contract and his contract will expire in 2026, which means that he may join Real Madrid as a free agent. Liverpool are worried about this as they have seen what happened to Alexander-Arnold this summer. Konate also joked that he was aware of this possibility: "Mbappe calls me every two hours!"

If the deal is finally reached, it will be done secretly after the end of the season like other previous signings. Konate is now focused on what could be his final season at Liverpool, which looks set to be challenging.

One of the reasons is that coach Slaughter seems to be keeping some distance from him, realizing that his days with the club may be numbered. In the game against Chelsea, Konate was substituted shortly after the start of the second half, and Slott criticized his performance: "I'm not sure if he was injured, but if the game continues like this, I will replace him anyway. When we made the changes, we did enter the game better."

Although Slott mentioned Hrafenberch's new role as a key factor in bringing about the changes, he also clearly pointed out Konate's problems and severely criticized: "If you are in the game, Falling behind and conceding the ball so easily didn't help matters. Konate is one of them, but certainly not the only one. "

"In the past two games, it is obvious that we have made some mistakes, but this is not just a problem for Konate, but also other players who usually perform stably. People often criticize coaches when they see something unusual happen. "

The remarks illustrate the growing rift between the club and the players, but from a club level the situation appears to be calmer. Liverpool have unofficially expressed confidence that they can renew Konate's contract to avoid him joining Real Madrid for free in 2026, but this is just a wish at present, although Liverpool intends to hold on until the end. Konate himself remained silent. Apart from mentioning Mbappe's phone call, he said only one sentence in Spanish.