Liverpool Star Ibrahima Konate Hailed As One Of Greatest Ever Signings
Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate has been hailed as one of the greatest-ever signings.
Konate moved to Anfield in a £35million deal from RB Leipzig in the summer of 2021 and has since become a mainstay in the Reds' defence.
Former Manchester United boss Ralf Rangnick played a key role in signing the 25-year-old for Leipzig during his time as Red Bull Director of Football.
He joined the Bundesliga side from Ligue 2 side Sochaux in 2017 and went on to racked up 95 appearances during four seasons with the club.
Speaking to Canal+, as quoted by Get Football News France, Ralf Rangnick rated Konate as his best signing ever.
“I remember very well the day our scouting department in Leipzig showed clips from your Sochaux days,” he said in a video addressed to his former player.
“I instantly fell in love with your game.
“I saw straight away you were an amazing person and player with a top-class upbringing. All of the latter proved true.
“You are without doubt the best signing, or one of the best signings, we did at Leipzig in the last 12 years.”
Rangnick was however left disappointed as he failed to sign another Liverpool player during his time in the Manchester United dugout.
The current Austria manager took over the reins at Old Trafford in December 2021 on an interim basis after replacing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
In his only transfer window in charge, Man United failed to sign Luis Diaz after the move fell through.
“We lost three strikers, long-term,” Rangnick bemoaned to reporters in May 2022.
“We should have tried to sign a player in the 48 hours we had, since we knew Mason (Greenwood) wouldn’t be available and Anthony (Martial) had already left on loan.
“We were also aware Edinson (Cavani) might not be available for eight out of 10 games, but we didn’t do it. There were a few: Diaz, who is now at Liverpool; (Julian) Alvarez, who will be at Manchester City in the summer; and (Dusan) Vlahovic, who at the time was still with Fiorentina.
“The answer was 'no' and that was it. I spoke to the board and told them 'shouldn’t we at least speak and analyse and find if we can at least get a player, on loan or a permanent deal?'
“In the end the answer was 'no'. Maybe they didn’t want to do any winter business. Maybe we should have at least discussed it internally, because it might be necessary and important.
“It would have been short notice anyway but still, 48 hours is 48 hours. It might have been at least worth a try. But we didn’t and it wasn't done.”
LFC Transfer Room Football Correspondent. Covered the fortunes of Liverpool for the past three years. Follow Joseph on X (formerly Twitter) @joseph_agbobli