Ibrahima Konaté

MAN


It's still the team bus for the 20-year old centre back. One of the hottest defensive prospects in the beautiful game, it won't be too long before he's seen driving a hot pair of wheels!

Born in Paris, France, his youth career was split between the academies of Paris FC and FC Sochaux-Montbéliard. On 7 February 2017, he made his professional debut in Ligue 2 for Sochaux as Les Lionceaux suffered a 1-0 defeat to AJ Auxerre. The Frenchman featured in 13 more league games and scored a solitary goal before moving to Germany in the summer. On 12 June 2017, the French defender signed a five-year deal with Bundesliga club RB Leipzig. His first season at the club saw the still teenage centre-back feature 16 times in the league and 4 times in the UEFA Europa League for a total of 20 showings. The following season would see an upsurge in his game time; the 2018/19 campaign saw the commanding central defender make 28 appearances in the Bundesliga, and 43 in total including domestic cups and European competitions. The Frenchman had begun to establish himself as one of the hottest defensive prospect in the world. His ability to win aerial duels coupled with his lightning quickness make him the ideal defender to stop counter attacks for teams deploying a high press; while his accomplished dribbling ability allow him to bring the ball out of the back and in to midfield; these qualities make for the perfect modern day centre-back. In the summer of 2021 he made the move to Liverpool.