Liverpool players have been reflecting on their 2-0 loss to Paris Saint-Germain, while Ibrahima Konate has edged closer to signing a new contract.
Ibrahima Konate contract talks are advancing
With his deal expiring at the end of the season, Konate is moving closer to agreeing a new contract at Liverpool.
Merseyside journalist David Lynch wrote on his Substack that “discussions are now advancing towards a conclusion after an initial impasse.”
This comes just a few days after L’Equipe reported similar, that there are “only a few details remaining to be ironed out” and the player wants it done before the World Cup.
Konate currently earns about £150,000 per week and was reportedly seeking to increase that figure to £200,000 a year ago.
Talks stalled in subsequent months, though, so an agreement of sorts must have been reached for the 26-year-old’s representatives and the club to be coming closer to a compromise.
LFC News: Ticket price protests, Van Dijk’s message and Diaz’s “right choice”
• Spion Kop 1906 have announced they will be withdrawing flags from the Kop in protest at Liverpool increasing ticket prices – this will be for the rest of the season, excluding PSG to allow for Hillsborough commemorations
• Ahead of the second leg vs. PSG, Virgil van Dijk has said that any comeback “starts with the belief that we get from our manager, the right game plan and the intensity that we have to put in”
• Konate questioned why Premier League teams don’t have fixtures moved to cater for better Champions League performances – for that to happen, someone, somewhere would have to make a concession
• After scoring in Bayern Munich‘s 2-1 win away against Real Madrid, Luis Diaz told ESPN that “deciding to join Bayern was the right choice”.
More from This Is Anfield
Following Wednesday’s 2-0 loss against PSG, Sam Millne, Paddy Allen and Abigail Rudkin got together to discuss what happens next and why playing a back-five was a negative decision.
“Perhaps more worryingly than the actual performance, though, was the thought process behind switching formations.
“The head coach is clearly desperate for solutions. By changing to accommodate PSG – a sensible decision perhaps if done correctly – Liverpool effectively surrendered the upper hand from the start.
“The way Slot spoke after the game, about not being able to stop Luis Enrique’s side whatever they did, can’t exactly have boosted the confidence of the players.”
In other football news…
• Harry Maguire has called on Man United to have a “big summer” in the transfer market – it is only worth spending with a plan, and they currently don’t have a permanent manager!
• Newcastle could be forced to sell two key players at the end of the season if they don’t qualify for the Champions League (BBC Sport) – anyone we should be looking at?
• Jarrod Bowen is to help pay for a new drainage system at Hereford’s stadium where he started his career – well in, Jarrod
• African Football president Patrice Motsepe has said he would “encourage” an investigation into alleged corruption at the organisation, saying they “will give you all the co-operation” (via BBC Sport)
Liverpool FC: On this day
Happy birthday to one of football’s greatest finishers, Robbie Fowler, who is turning 51 years old.
The legendary striker was born in Liverpool 8 on April 9, 1975, and broke into the team as a fresh-faced 18-year-old.
Remarkably, he scored 116 times in his first four seasons and would conclude his Liverpool career with 183 goals from 369 appearances across two spells at the club.
Also on this day, in 1995, Fowler was awarded his second consecutive PFA Young Player of the Year award!