Ibrahima Konaté (born 25 May 1999) is a French professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for club

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and the

France national team France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Starting off with

Sochaux Sochaux () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Geography Sochaux lies east of Montbéliard, and southeast of Paris. Population Inhabitants are known as ''Sochaliens''. Economy ...

, Konaté moved to

RB Leipzig RasenBallsport Leipzig e.V. (), commonly known as RB Leipzig or informally as Red Bull Leipzig, is a German professional association football, football club based in Leipzig, Saxony. The club was founded in 2009 by the initiative of the company ...

in 2017. After four years with the club, Liverpool signed him in 2021 for a fee of £36 million. He won the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

and

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

in his first season.

Early and personal life

Ibrahima Konaté was born on 25 May 1999 in Paris. He grew up on a council estate in the

11th arrondissement of Paris The 11th arrondissement of Paris (''XIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, the arrondissement is referred to as ''le onzième'' (; "the eleventh"). The ar ...

and is the second youngest of eight children born to parents from

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

. Konaté is a fan of

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

and

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

, with ''

Attack on Titan is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hajime Isayama. It is set in a world where humanity is forced to live in cities surrounded by three enormous walls that protect them from gigantic man-eating humanoids referred to a ...

'' being his favourite series. Konaté is a practising

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

Club career

Early career

Konaté played as a teen for

Paris FC Paris Football Club (French pronunciation: Help:IPA/French, aʁi futbol klœb, commonly referred to as Paris FC or simply PFC, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris, France. They will compete in Ligue ...

youth teams. When he was 14, he left for Sochaux and joined their boarding academy at the age of 15. He started his career as a striker before moving to the defence. Konaté moved to centre-back. Konaté made his professional debut for

in a 1–0

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

loss to

Auxerre Auxerre ( , , Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Auchoirre'') is the capital (Prefectures in France, prefecture) of the Yonne Departments of France, department and the fourth-largest city in the Burgundy historical region southeast of Par ...

on 7 February 2017, at the age of 17.

RB Leipzig

After a successful debut season, with 12 games and 1 goal in half a season, Konaté joined

in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

on 12 June 2017 on a five-year contract by free transfer. Konaté scored his first Leipzig goal in a 4–0 win against

Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, that competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fo ...

Liverpool

On 28 May 2021,

announced that they had reached an agreement with RB Leipzig to acquire Konaté on 1 July, pending international clearance and a work permit being granted to him. The club had already agreed personal terms with the player in April, and triggered his release clause of approximately £36 million in May 2021. On 18 September, Konaté made his Premier League debut, starting alongside

Virgil van Dijk Virgil van Dijk (; born 8 July 1991) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for and captains both club Liverpool and the Netherlands national team. Widely regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation and ...

, and kept a clean sheet in a 3–0 victory against

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

. He made his second start of the season partnering Virgil van Dijk in the first North-West Derby of the season, in which Liverpool beat Manchester United 5–0. It was the heaviest defeat inflicted on United by Liverpool since 1895 and the heaviest defeat United had suffered without scoring in since 1955. Konaté won plaudits for how he handled star players like

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Saudi Pr ...

and

Marcus Rashford Marcus Rashford (born 31 October 1997) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Premier League club Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa, on Loan (association football), lo ...

, and featured in

Garth Crooks Garth Anthony Crooks, (born 10 March 1958) is an English football pundit and former professional player. He played from 1976 to 1990, for Stoke City, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, West Bromwich Albion and Charlton Athletic. Club ca ...

' team of the week, with Crooks saying, "No frills or skills but he does use his power and strength to maximum effect." On 5 April 2022, Konaté scored his first goal for Liverpool, a header in a 3–1 away win against Benfica in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

quarter-final first leg. Konaté missed the beginning of the 2022–23 season through injury. Having not registered a goal since 16 April 2022, Konaté returned to scoring ways on 17 September 2024 with a header in Liverpool's 3–1 away win against

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

in the

. On 28 September 2024, Konate scored his first

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

goal in a 2–1 away win against

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

International career

Konaté received his first call-up to the senior

on 4 June 2022 for the

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is an international European football competition played by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The competition was devised to minimise friendlies a ...

, replacing

Raphaël Varane Raphaël Xavier Varane (; born 25 April 1993) is a French former professional association football, footballer who played as a centre-back. Varane played for French club RC Lens, Lens at youth level and, ahead of the 2010–11 in French footba ...

due to injury. He made his full international debut on 10 June in a 1–1 draw against

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. On 9 November, Konaté was included in

Didier Deschamps Didier Claude Deschamps (; born 15 October 1968) is a French professional football manager and former player who has been managing the France national team since 2012. He played as a defensive midfielder for several clubs, in France, Italy, Engl ...

's squad for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

, where he helped France reach the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

. On 18 November 2024, he captained his country in the

game against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Style of play

Konaté has been compared to

due to his positional play, tackling, pace and strength. Guido Schafer said that: "he is tall, fast, good technique and he is a little bit of Virgil van Dijk. He has very high-class potential. He is a great athlete, he has good speed and there are no silly tackles – he is an intelligent player." Konaté is also well known for his passing and strength in the air.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

RB Leipzig *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

runner-up: 2018–19,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Liverpool *

: 2024–25 *

: 2021–22 *

: 2021–22, 2023–24; runner-up: 2024–25 *

FA Community Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is Football in England, English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

runner-up: 2021–22 France *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

runner-up:

third place: 2024–25

References

External links

Profile
at the Liverpool F.C. website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Konate, Ibrahima 1999 births Living people Footballers from Paris French men's footballers Men's association football defenders Paris FC players FC Sochaux-Montbéliard players RB Leipzig players Liverpool F.C. players Championnat National 3 players Ligue 2 players Bundesliga players Premier League players France men's youth international footballers France men's under-21 international footballers France men's international footballers 2022 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2024 players French expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Germany French expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in Germany Black French sportspeople French sportspeople of Malian descent 21st-century French sportsmen