Ibrahima Konatéis a French professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Premier League club Liverpool and the France national team.
Starting off with Sochaux, Konaté moved to RB Leipzig in 2017. After four years with the club, Liverpool signed him in 2021 for a fee of £36 million. He won the EFL Cup and FA Cup in his first season.
Club career
Early career
Konaté played as a teen for Paris FC youth teams. When he was 14, he left for Sochaux and joined their boarding academy at the age of 15. He started his career as a striker before moving to the defence.
Konaté made his professional debut for Sochaux in a 1–0 Ligue 2 loss to Auxerre on 7 February 2017, at the age of 16.
RB Leipzig
After a successful debut season, with 12 games and 1 goal in half a season, Konaté joined RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga on 12 June 2017 on a five-year contract by free transfer. Konaté scored his first Leipzig goal in a 4–0 win against Fortuna Düsseldorf.
Liverpool
On 28 May 2021, Liverpool announced that they had reached an agreement with RB Leipzig to acquire Konaté on 1 July, pending international clearance and a work permit being granted. The club had already agreed personal terms with the player in April, and triggered his release clause of approximately £36 million in May 2021. On 18 September, Konaté made his Premier League debut, starting alongside Virgil van Dijk, and kept a clean sheet in a 3–0 victory against Crystal Palace. He made his second start of the season partnering Virgil van Dijk in the first North-West Derby of the season, in which Liverpool beat Manchester United 5–0. It was the heaviest defeat inflicted on United by Liverpool since 1895 and the heaviest defeat United had suffered without scoring in since 1955. Konaté won plaudits for how he handled star players like Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcus Rashford, and featured in Garth Crooks' team of the week, with Crooks saying, "No frills or skills but he does use his power and strength to maximum effect."
On 5 April 2022, Konaté scored his first goal for Liverpool, a header in a 3–1 away win against Benfica in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg.
Konaté missed the beginning of the 2022–23 season through injury.
