Liverpool makes a move: farewell to this center-back and it affects Konaté's future

Real Madrid has multiple transfer targets for next season. Although there are still ten months left before the start of the 2026 summer transfer window, the Valdebebas offices are moving forward with their plans to expand the squad. This is especially true if it is a position for which Xabi Alonso has requested more reinforcements.

The Tolosa coach requested, shortly after the experience at the Club World Cup, the signing of a center-back and a creative midfielder with a defensive profile. The executives led by Florentino Pérez indicated that these additions were duly recorded in the first team's roadmap, but that they would not arrive during the summer of 2025.

Meanwhile, while Xabi Alonso's coaching staff must adapt to the formidable group of players it has at its disposal, the merengue sporting management insists on its favorite signings. The first on the list is none other than Ibrahima Konaté, who could leave Anfield Road as a free agent this very summer. Negotiations for his contract renewal are not progressing to the liking of the red management.

That's why Real Madrid's candidacy is gaining more and more strength, causing the Merseyside offices to look for alternatives to make up for his departure as soon as possible. One of the signings considered in this regard has failed, against all odds, in the final days of the 2025 summer transfer window: Marc Guéhi.

Change of plans

The current Crystal Palace center-back, a team he had to return to when his transfer to Liverpool was canceled, is a new source of instability for the "Konaté case" at Madrid. The information published by The Times warns that the Premier League squad would refrain from acquiring the services of Marc Guéhi during the winter transfer window.

Initially, it had been speculated that Liverpool was willing to try again to sign the glazier footballer for about €25 million. That amount is half the transfer fee that the red bosses would pay for a player whose contract ends, like Ibrahima Konaté, during the next summer.

Media outlets such as The Times now indicate that Liverpool is only considering signing Marc Guéhi by taking advantage of that contract expiration, an identical move to what Real Madrid is planning with Konaté. This decision made by the Merseyside-based squad could slightly change the future of the French "5": the certainty of his departure would decrease significantly.

Given this situation, Real Madrid must be especially alert to the "Konaté case" in the coming months. Not only because of the possibility of losing the red player himself, but also because Marc Guéhi is another alternative to strengthen the defense according to Xabi Alonso's criteria... Who would slip away to one of its great rivals in the European football elite.