Liverpool have already kicked off their summer transfer business.
The Premier League season only finished five days ago but the Reds have wasted no time in getting their first player through the door.
Liverpool have confirmed their signing of Ibrahima Konate from Red Bull Leipzig.
According to Sky Sports, Konate has joined the Anfield side for £36 million.
The 22-year-old centre-back’s arrival comes at the end of a season where Jurgen Klopp seemingly couldn’t keep his defenders fit, with Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez having not kicked a ball for the club since October of last year.
Despite missing two huge players, Klopp’s side still managed a third-placed finish in the Premier League table, securing Champions League football in the process.
Konate, at 6’4, brings a hell of a lot of height and physicality to the German’s squad.
Here’s how the club’s goalkeeping coach John Achterberg reacted to Konate’s arrival on Twitter:
Where does he fit in?
Well, Van Dijk has been Liverpool’s best and most important defender for the past three years and that won’t change.
It’s going to be a battle between Konate, Gomez, Matip and Nat Phillips – if he stays at Anfield – to see who partners the Dutchman at the heart of Liverpool’s defence next season and beyond.
But as last season proved, Klopp needs a lot of depth in central defence to avoid the same sort of fiasco and Konate does add quite a bit of depth to the squad.
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