Ibrahima Konate to leave Liverpool on a free after five year stay

Liverpool's Ibrahima Konate applauds the fans. Pic: Peter Byrne/PA Wire.

Ibrahima Konate is to leave Liverpool when his contract expires next month after failing to agree a new deal.

A month ago the centre-back confidently announced after the Merseyside derby win at Everton that a resolution was imminent.

However, it is understood the club were unable to come to terms on the financial aspects and as a result the defender will leave Anfield next month after a five-year stay.

Konate had been linked with Real Madrid for most of the season as his contract ticked down but it appears a return to the city of his birth with Paris St Germain looks more likely.

His departure gives Liverpool another headache they did not need heading into a crucial summer having said farewell to senior players Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson, and with head coach Arne Slot under pressure after a disappointing fifth-placed finish.

Rennes centre-back Jeremy Jacquet will arrive in a £60million deal but he does not turn 21 until July, has played just 31 Ligue 1 matches and missed the last four months of the season with a shoulder injury sustained just a week after agreeing his deal with Liverpool.

Giovani Leoni will also return to the squad after suffering a season-ending knee injury on debut in September, but he is only 19.

It leaves captain Virgil van Dijk, who turns 35 in July, in need of a senior partner if Liverpool are to rectify their defensive weaknesses evident this season and could mean Joe Gomez, who has a year left on his deal, may not be ushered out of the door as quickly as first thought this summer.