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RB Leipzig center-back Ibrahima Konate is one of Liverpool’s five options as they look to sign a defender this summer.
The club have been officially timid on the matter, confirming they are watching the Leipzig defender, but it is understood Konate is alongside Ozan Kabak on the summer reinforcement list.
Konate is said to have a release clause of around £ 34million, while there was a call option included in Kabak’s loan deal in the £ 18million region. This means the club could potentially land the two players for a relatively reasonable fee of just £ 52million this summer.
While this is likely a big part of Liverpool’s transfer kitten, it would be worth it given the current quality of both defenders who are still in their prime in some way.
Despite his 21-year-old age, Konate has already earned a reputation as one of the Bundesliga’s best center-backs thanks to his dominance in duels and his poise in possession.
Meanwhile, Kabak has been virtually ubiquitous in Liverpool’s defensive line since joining, reaching a level that kept compatriot Ben Davies on the bench and allowed Jurgen Klopp to ultimately push Fabinho back into midfield.
In addition to the above, there is one area where both players have really excelled over the past 12 months compared to their peers, and this is a crucial area of your game if you are a Liverpool defender.
As we see above, Konate and Kabak both rank among the best in their age group in terms of aerial duels won in the past 12 months. Kabak ranks 15th out of 98 center-backs on the list with a success rate of 66.46% while Konate is in second place with a success rate of 75.86%.
For comparison, Virgil van Dijk had an aerial success rate of 74.2% last season.
Konate played the fourth lowest number of minutes, which works in his favor compared to players who played three or four times that number in the same period.
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Still, aerial dominance is one of its key traits, so you wouldn’t expect to see a huge drop in that success rate even with more minutes in the field.
Liverpool are of course playing a notoriously high line, so beyond the speed needed to cover the space behind you also need to be strong in the air to beat attackers when opponents are playing the ball for a long time.
Konate and Kabak have more than ticked that box, which will be just one of the reasons they are prime targets for permanent moves to Anfield this summer.
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