The transfer window was ticking into its final few hours at the end of January 2021 and Jurgen Klopp knew he had to act fast.
After pulling up at half-time of a victory at Tottenham on January 28, a season-ending injury was to be the diagnosis for Joel Matip as he joined Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk on the shelf to leave the Reds without a senior fit centre-back for the remainder of the term.
And so started the kind of mad-dash search across Europe that was so out of character for a club who take ample pride in their strategic, long-term planning, particularly when it comes to recruitment.
First, a deal with Preston North End in the Championship was struck for Ben Davies. With the defender into the final six months of his Deepdale deal , Liverpool muscled in ahead of Celtic and Burnley to bring him to Anfield for an initial fee of £500,000. Add-ons to take it to an overall figure closer to £1.5m and potential England cap bonuses were discussed, but nearly 18 months on, he is currently on loan at Sheffield United and yet to make his Liverpool debut.
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After signing Davies on deadline day, a last-gasp search around Europe was sanctioned as the recruitment team went on the lookout for an experienced top-level centre-half to act as the stop-gap before a more considered assessment was given to a high-profile summer target.
After a brief look at Duje Caleta-Car at Marseille, it was Ozan Kabak who was given the nod as he came through the door from Schalke on loan with a glowing set of recommendations for Klopp from contacts back in Germany that included the Turkey international's former manager, David Wagner.
The likes of Ben White, then of Brighton, Leicester's Caglar Soyuncu and Villarreal star Pau Torres were among a host centre-backs whose merits were assessed, while it was made clear that Kabak's loan deal effectively gave him a trial run at making his move permanent.
However, when given more time to study, scout and essentially act the way Liverpool do in the transfer market, it was RB Leipzig's Ibrahima Konate who would eventually jump to the front of the queue.
His pace, strength and comfort in possession at the age of just 21 at the time were viewed as the idea profile to thrive within the Liverpool's almost unique defensive system that pushes the boundaries of the high-line offside trap to its limit.
Club insiders quietly believed they had identified one of the best young defenders in European football and Konate is now viewed as the future of Liverpool's defence. But, having made 25 appearances in his debut year, he is very much the present too.
Kabak and Davies both officially arrived on February 1 to help soothe the crippling shortage of centre-halves, but by March, sporting director Michael Edwards had already made significant strides in his efforts to lure Konate to Anfield.
Given the dire state of proceedings at the turn of 2021 and the swiftness at which his transfer was concluded - Liverpool actually confirmed Konate before last season had finished - it would not be unreasonable to assume that overtures were made to Leipzig for Konate long before he was officially confirmed as a Reds player.
"I really don’t recall if there were any enquiries made about me moving in January," Konate says on the eve of the FA Cup final against Chelsea. "At the time there was no clause in my contract which would have allowed me to leave Leipzig under any circumstances. As far as I remember it was some months after [January] that discussions about leaving were undertaken, and that led to me moving here.
"Never at any moment in my life could I have imagined this. I knew I was joining a very big club, a club that has set out to win things, titles and trophies. But this season has been exceptional, a historic one for the club and it’s hard to put into words. It’s super exciting to be a part of."
Perhaps now it is all water under the bridge, anyway. Those dark days of depleted defensive options are long gone. With Van Dijk, Matip and Gomez back fit in an environment where Konate has flourished since his July move, Liverpool are light years away from the situation they found themselves in last term when Klopp was forced to name as many as 20 different pairings at the back.
Now, the German wrestles mainly with just two combinations: Virgil van Dijk and one other from Matip or Konate. The big decision, then, is just who gets the nod at Wembley against Chelsea on Saturday?
Konate was given the shirt for the FA Cup semi-final win over Manchester City last month, while it was Matip who was selected alongside Van Dijk for the Carabao Cup final at the end of February. Decisions, decisions.
Konate says: "My expectation was to come here and work. The club has a very strong work ethic. Of course I’m very happy to be playing in these big matches which are coming up so frequently. The coach has placed a lot of trust in me and I’m very happy about that. The thing now is to continue putting in good performances and hopefully get the wins."
The peerless Van Dijk has been back to his best this season following that damaging ACL injury suffered at Everton in October 2020 and the Dutchman's reassuring presence has been a key factor behind the ongoing push for honours. The Netherlands captain has also been a big help to Konate in settling in following his big move to the Premier League.
"I think it’s the whole team who defend, to be honest," says Konate, who was speaking to a handful of reporters at Liverpool's AXA Training Centre on Thursday. "It’s not just the back four. The midfield and even the attackers, they all have a role to play in allowing us to do what we do. We can only defend with that level of support from up front.
"Virgil, he gives me some advice for big games, but he also has this quality where we have this great relationship, and he allows me to decide in each match, to make decisions. He lets me play to my own qualities, and I think that is a very good aspect of his leadership."
Konate will not turn 23 until the week of the Champions League final, which neatly falls in his hometown of Paris, but an impressive first year for him at Anfield is threatening to turn into a legendary one for the collective as they continue their pursuit of an unprecedented quadruple.
Manchester City's need for just four points from the final six on offer undoubtedly puts them in the driving seat as far as the Premier League title goes, but destiny remains firmly in Liverpool's own hands where the FA Cup and Champions League are concerned.
"Of course I’m very excited," Konate says about a potentially historic couple of weeks. "The whole team is. The FA Cup final is a huge event. One goal might be enough, whether it’s me who scores it or somebody else, it doesn’t bother me either way. The most important thing is to go and win, then come back to Liverpool and celebrate a great victory."
