Liverpool set to sign another star player in same path as Ibrahima Konaté

Liverpool set to sign another star player in same path as Ibrahima Konaté

Liverpool are being linked with a player who could follow the same transfer path as Ibrahima Konaté, who came through the same academy as the French defender

It will be Jürgen Klopp’s first priority to improve the midfield. Three players, including Arthur Melo, have already left, leaving a lot of openings in his midfield that need to be addressed.

The club’s primary objective for the upcoming season will be to return to the Champions League, thus effort must now be done to find the appropriate reinforcements to guarantee Liverpool remains competitive.

Manu Koné is one of the most recent stars to have his transfer to Anfield strongly rumoured. The Borussia Mönchengladbach midfielder is a player who has previously been associated with the Reds, according to Fabrizio Romano and Christian Falk of Sport BILD.

The young 22-year-old midfielder, who with his hardworking style and astute reading of the game, could fit into numerous places in Klopp’s system and clearly feels like a perfect signing for the club, has reportedly been in talks to join Liverpool, according to both Romano and Falk.

One of the most fascinating features of the agreement is that Koné would become Paris FC’s second player to sign with Liverpool if it were to go through. Ibrahima Konaté, who was two years older than him, went through the same academy system and essentially took a similar route.

The two of them initially established themselves in France’s Ligue 2 with Toulouse and Sochaux, respectively, before switching to the Bundesliga and maybe earning a transfer to Anfield.

Liverpool has always liked to recruit players from similar systems. For a little while the Reds bulked bought in Southampton. Then Red Bull became the new wave under Michael Edwards, and if Koné is signed Paris FC might become a similar source for the Reds.

Paris is a hub for talented footballers all across France and Paris FC in particular has a very underrated youth set-up having produced multiple international footballers such as Hannibal Mejbri, Loïc Badé, Nordi Mukiele, Boubakary Soumaré, Rayan Aït-Nouri and Axel Disasi, to name just a few.

Since Paris Saint-Germain’s rise to prominence, the club, which was once a major force in Paris and likely the largest team in the French capital, has dropped down the pecking order and, at the first-team level, has established itself as a fixture in Ligue 2’s second division.

At the youth level, Paris FC continues to thrive and draw in talented footballers who go on to have great careers.

In many senses, Paris FC’s academy products tick a lot of boxes for Liverpool and as the youth set-up continues to function, Liverpool would be smart to keep an eye on the next Koné and Konaté coming through.

In other news, Sadio Mané return to Liverpool claim uncertain as Bayern Munich takes final transfer decision