From France: Liverpool ‘could quickly trigger release clause’ to secure transfer after ‘talks intensified over past few weeks’

Revealed by The Athletic, the news that Liverpool are closing in on Ibrahima Konaté is making waves around Europe.

Desperately in need of strength in depth following the injuries to Virgil Van Dijk and Joe Gomez, the Reds brought in Ben Davies and Ozan Kabak during the January transfer window, with neither seemingly the long-term solution to their issues.

While they will be adequate stop gaps until the end of the campaign, the purchase of a more talented and slightly bigger name seemed inevitable, with Konaté being both of those.

Following the sale of Dayot Upamecano to Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig are set to lose another of their centre-backs, with L’Equipe confirming the news on Monday morning.

They explain, via an English source, they have been able to learn that ‘talks have intensified over the past few weeks between the French defender and the Reds’.

In fact, Liverpool ‘could quickly trigger the clause’, which is set at €41.5m.

They aren’t the only ones after Konaté, with Chelsea also circling in search of defensive reinforcements, but it seems Jürgen Klopp’s team have taken the lead and could soon finish the race in first.