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Liverpool have officially completed their first transfer deal of the summer, announcing the signing of 22-year-old centre half Ibrahima Konaté from RB Leipzig after agreeing personal terms and triggering his £36M release clause.
“I’m really happy to be joining such a massive club like Liverpool,” Konaté said of the move. “It’s a really exciting moment for me and my family and I am really looking forward to meeting my new teammates, the staff, and getting started on this new chapter.”
The move sees the Reds acting quickly to fix their biggest weakness of the 2020-21 season and sees one of the continent’s best young centre halves—a physically dominant, pacy, and technically outstanding player—join the club.
It is expected that Konaté will immediately challenge to start alongside Virgil van Dijk in the heart of Liverpool’s defence, though before he joins the Reds, Konaté will spend the summer with France at the U21 Euros.
“Right now, my focus is on the U21 European Championships with France,” Konaté added. “But after this competition I know I will be joining one of the best teams in the world and that gives me a great feeling.
“I have worked very hard for many years to get to this point, but I would like to say a big thank you to everyone at RB Leipzig and all the people I worked with there—the coaches, my teammates, the staff and especially the fans.”