Liverpool are reportedly ready to offer Barcelona \u00a370m for Jules Kounde as the Reds look to bolster their defence amid doubts over Ibrahima Konate\u2019s future at the club.<\/p>\n
Konate\u2019s contract expires in the summer and he\u2019s been heavily linked with a free transfer to Real Madrid at the end of the campaign; something Liverpool may not have been too\u00a0disappointed on the basis of his displays for much of this season.<\/p>\n
There has been an uptick in his performances of late and there is said to be a fresh deal on the table for Konate to sign, but after completing the \u00a360m signing of Jeremy Jacquet ahead of Chelsea in January, according to Spanish outlet Fichajes<\/a><\/strong>, Liverpool are also lining up Kounde as another new defender.<\/p>\n Kounde has been forever linked with a move to the Premier League and came very close to joining Chelsea in the summer of 2022 before snubbing the Blues and joining Barcelona.<\/p>\n He\u2019s become a key figure at the Nou Camp, valued for his quality and versatility, and that\u2019s caught the eye of the Reds chiefs, who are \u2018willing to put \u20ac80m [\u00a370m} on the table for the French international\u2019.<\/p>\n It\u2019s thought to be an offer which \u2018changes the scenario\u2019 as cash-strapped Barcelona would reportedly \u2018contemplate his departure for an amount close to that figure\u2019, despite manager Hansi Flick \u2018considering Kounde an essential player\u2019 for his project.<\/p>\n A report last week<\/a><\/strong> claimed\u00a0The Premier League is a \u2018great temptation\u2019 for Kounde, who can play at right-back or in central defence, and Barcelona see the interest from Liverpool, along with Manchester United, as a way to grow his valuation from \u20ac65m to \u20ac80m.<\/p>\n MORE LIVERPOOL COVERAGE ON F365<\/strong> The 27-year-old has the quality to improve every team in world football, but Liverpool captain Virgil Van Dijk will be hoping Kounde will arrive to complement him and Konate in defence, as he told reporters after the Reds\u2019 victory over Sunderland that he wants his \u201cworld-class\u201d teammate to remain at Anfield.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are friends, we speak about everything,\u201d Van Dijk said. \u201cIt\u2019s a process and let\u2019s see what comes out of it. It\u2019s never that easy. We saw with my own situation last year so it\u2019s never that easy that we can just say \u2018let\u2019s get it done\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cObviously I want him to stay. He\u2019s an important figure on the pitch. That\u2019s what everyone sees but off the pitch as well, he\u2019s one of the leaders.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s outstanding and in my eyes, a world-class centre back. I can do only so much but it\u2019s in the club\u2019s hands, together with his agents and himself so let\u2019s see what comes out of it but I have no influence otherwise on that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Liverpool are reportedly ready to offer Barcelona \u00a370m for Jules Kounde as the Reds look to bolster their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":760543,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4100],"tags":[94,163,67078,179,12,79,16,2970,15],"class_list":["post-760542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-football","tag-front-page","tag-jules-kounde","tag-liverpool","tag-news","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-uncategorized","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116060298585974636","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=760542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760542\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/760543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=760542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=760542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=760542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
*\u00a0Real Madrid: Klopp wants to \u2018arrive\u2019 with Liverpool star in double deal; \u2018proposes two departures\u2019 \u2013 report<\/strong><\/a>
*\u00a0Liverpool tipped to sell Tottenham target after rumoured \u2018tiff\u2019 with Arne Slot<\/strong><\/a>
*\u00a0Liverpool make \u2018drastic decision\u2019 on Slot sack; FSG issue \u2018new ultimatum\u2019 with \u2018ideal successor\u2019 chosen<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n