Ibrahima Konate has opened up on his big-money transfer to Liverpool and revealed that he asked Jurgen Klopp to put himself in his shoes before deciding to move to Merseyside.
The French defender was said to have been courted by a number of other top European clubs, including Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester United, before joining the Reds in a £36million deal from RB Leipzig in July last summer.
And now the 22-year-old has explained how Kop boss Klopp convinced him that he would be making the right decision by coming to Anfield, a choice he confirms he is very happy with.
Speaking in a interview with the Sunday Times, Konaté revealed: “I said, ‘okay, if I was your son and your son was in my position, what would you tell him to do?'
“Klopp said, ‘okay, this club is good and that club is good, but for sure I would tell him to go to Liverpool’. As he was saying this I watched nothing else but his eyes. To see if he was sincere.
“And I saw sincerity on his face. I said, ‘this decision will be good for me’. And after, when you think about the other players at Liverpool . . . which players don’t want to come here?”
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Konate has made 15 appearances for Liverpool so far and is in contention for a start in this afternoon's Carabao Cup final at Wembley.
But with Joel Matip currently in the best form of his Reds career, it is likely to be the Cameroon defender who partners Virgil van Dijk in Klopp's defence from kick-off.
But the French under-21 international is loving life at Anfield and is happy with the decision that me made when he reached an important crossroads in his career.
Konate said: “As a footballer, the decisions you make about your career are the most important thing. I made my best decision and am very happy.
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“It was not easy, my head was ready to explode. For three or four weeks I was thinking about it a lot — because this is a decision for life, you know?”
In the wide-ranging interview with the Sunday Times, Konate also explained how he is settling into life at Anfield and learning from not only Van Dijk and Matip, but also Joe Gomez and people like Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.
Liverpool are yet to lose a match that Konaté has played in, with his last defeat coming for previous club Leipzig back in November 2020.
He added: “I’m playing it match by match and looking to grow. The manager has given me a chance in the biggest matches and my mentality is that even if we win, I think about the errors I’ve made and how I can be better next time.
“I’m not at my maximum level at this stage, but the performances I’m putting in, at my age, I think, are a good indicator. The objective I have set myself is that there’s no reason why I can’t become one of the best players in the world.”
