# Ibrahima Konaté

Ibrahima Konaté (born 25 May 1999) is a French professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Liverpool and the France national team.
Starting off with Sochaux, Konaté moved to RB Leipzig in 2017. After four years with the club, Liverpool signed him in 2021 for a fee of £36 million. He won the EFL Cup and FA Cup 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 and is the second youngest of eight children born to parents from Mali. Konaté is a fan of anime and manga, with Attack on Titan being his favourite series.
Konaté is a practicing Muslim.

## Club career
### Early career

Konaté played as a teen for Paris FC 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 Sochaux in a 1–0 Ligue 2 loss to Auxerre 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 RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga 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.

### Liverpool

On 28 May 2021, Liverpool announced that they had reached an agreement with RB Leipzig to acquire Konaté on the 1st of 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, and kept a clean sheet in a 3–0 victory against Crystal Palace. 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 and Marcus Rashford, and featured in Garth Crooks' 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 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 in the UEFA Champions League. On 28 September 2024, Konate scored his first Premier League goal in a 2–1 away win against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

## International career

Konaté received his first call-up to the senior France national team on 4 June 2022 for the UEFA Nations League, replacing Raphaël Varane due to injury. He made his full international debut on 10 June in a 1–1 draw against Austria. On 9 November, Konaté was included in Didier Deschamps's squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, where he helped France reach the final. On 18 November 2024, he captained his country in the UEFA Nations League game against Italy.

## Style of play

Konaté has been compared to Virgil van Dijk 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

    As of match played 16 March 2025
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | National cup | National cup | League cup | League cup | Continental | Continental | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Sochaux II | 2016–17 | CFA 2 | 9 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 9 | 1 |
| Sochaux | 2016–17 | Ligue 2 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 13 | 1 |
| RB Leipzig | 2017–18 | Bundesliga | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 0 | 20 | 0 |
| RB Leipzig | 2018–19 | Bundesliga | 28 | 1 | 6 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 2 | 43 | 3 |
| RB Leipzig | 2019–20 | Bundesliga | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| RB Leipzig | 2020–21 | Bundesliga | 14 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 0 | 21 | 1 |
| RB Leipzig | Total | Total | 66 | 2 | 8 | 0 | — | — | 21 | 2 | 95 | 4 |
| Liverpool | 2021–22 | Premier League | 11 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 29 | 3 |
| Liverpool | 2022–23 | Premier League | 18 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 24 | 0 |
| Liverpool | 2023–24 | Premier League | 22 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 37 | 0 |
| Liverpool | 2024–25 | Premier League | 23 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 34 | 2 |
| Liverpool | Total | Total | 74 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 25 | 3 | 125 | 5 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 161 | 5 | 20 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 46 | 5 | 241 | 11 |
* ↑ Includes DFB-Pokal, FA Cup
* ↑ Includes Coupe de la Ligue, EFL Cup
* 1 2 3 Appearances in UEFA Europa League
* 1 2 3 4 5 Appearances in UEFA Champions League

### International

    As of match played 17 November 2024
Appearances and goals by national team and year :
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
| France | 2022 | 7 | 0 |
| France | 2023 | 6 | 0 |
| France | 2024 | 8 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 21 | 0 |

## Honours

RB Leipzig
* DFB-Pokal runner-up: 2018–19, 2020–21
Liverpool
* FA Cup: 2021–22
* EFL Cup: 2021–22, 2023–24
* FA Community Shield: 2022
* UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2021–22
France
* FIFA World Cup runner-up: 2022