3 hours ago
10
Jamie Carragher insists Ibrahima Konate's contract saga is not a disaster for Liverpool - despite the risk of losing the title-winning star on a free.
Konate's deal is up at the end of the season and there are no public signs of renewal talks progressing after they opened last November, with Real Madrid eager to sign him.
Fans are still reeling from losing Trent Alexander-Arnold to their Spanish rivals for £10million, but Carragher, while respecting Konate's achievements, believes the club would be 'absolutely fine' losing him.
Reds legend Carragher was speaking to Daily Mail Sport from Tranmere, where he was helping to launch a new phase of the Every Minute Matters CPR campaign in association with the British Heart Foundation and Sky Bet.
'I’d like him to stay but if he doesn’t stay, Liverpool will sign someone else. Liverpool won’t fall apart if Konate leaves,' Carragher told Daily Mail Sport.
'He's not Virgil van Dijk. He's a good centre-back who you hope will sign, but if he doesn’t want to sign, Liverpool will be absolutely fine.
Jamie Carragher insists that Liverpool would be 'absolutely fine' if they lost Ibrahima Konate
The Liverpool star could join Trent Alexander-Arnold at Real Madird with his contract expiring
'He's a very good centre-back, he's a title winner at Liverpool, he's played in the Champions League final against Real Madrid. He's obviously a quality centre-back.
'It's not poor management [if he goes for free]. You can't physically make somebody sign a contract. Then it's your decision, do you keep him to the length of his contract or do you sell him?
Konate looks to have turned a corner recently, helping Arne Slot's men keep clean sheets with Aston Villa and Real Madrid, and he rose to the challenge of stifling Kylian Mbappe well in midweek.
But the Frenchman has endured a drop in standards overall this season and has been error-prone against opponents such as Bournemouth, Newcastle, and Galatasaray.
Carragher has challenged the 26-year-old to keep up his improved form over a longer period. With Liverpool missing out on Marc Guehi in the summer, Giovanni Leoni likely out for the rest of the season, there are not many chances to take Konate out of the pressure cooker anyway.
'It's still only a couple of games,' said Carragher. 'He hasn't had a great start to the season and he needs to show a bit more consistency.
'He was fantastic against Real Madrid and he needs to keep that going over the next few months, it can't just be two games on the bounce.
‘There’s no secrets [to picking up your form]. It’s about working harder and you become more professional. It’s on your mind constantly that you want to get back into good form and every you think tiny detail will make a difference, whether that’s what you eat, what time you go to sleep, it’s just becoming an ultra-professional on and off the pitch.'
Konate's task on Sunday will be to stop Man City's Erling Haaland alongside Virgil van Dijk
The defender's form has picked up recently but it has still been a tricky campaign overall
Konate will face the ultimate test on Sunday afternoon as Liverpool travel to Manchester City, where he will come face-to-face with Erling Haaland, who has 27 goals for club and country this campaign.
Carragher hails him as the 'best goalscorer' in English top-flight history, but points out his fairly average record against Liverpool.
Haaland has scored two goals in six outings for City against Liverpool, winning only one of those matches and losing three.
Alongside a busy schedule talking all things football - including a friendly chat with Daily Mail Sport on Friday - Carragher has devoted his time to helping raise awareness around CPR.
On Friday, he was helping to launch a month-long awareness drive to equip grassroots football clubs with lifesaving CPR and defibrillation skills.
Despite it being such a common issue, and affecting footballers such as Fabrice Muamba and Tom Lockyer in high-profile cases, only 51 per cent of grassroots clubs feel prepared to deal with a cardiac arrest.
In recent years, Carragher has worked with the Oliver King Foundation, which was established in 2012 after Oliver died after a cardiac arrest in a swimming race. The foundation has since given out more than 7,000 defibrillators and campaigned for the government to ensure every state school in England has access to one.
'Too many people still think you have to be a medical professional to step in, but that’s simply not true,' Carragher says.
'Anyone can learn these lifesaving skills. It doesn’t matter who you are or what level you play in the Championship, at, Sunday league, five-a-side or walking football, if someone collapses, you want the confidence to act.
'And that confidence comes from training. That’s why I’m urging everyone in grassroots football to take 15 minutes to learn CPR and defibrillation with the BHF’s brilliant free online tool, RevivR.'
He added: 'It's about making people not panic too much and think it's a complicated piece of kit that you can't work. It's very self-explanatory and talking you through every stage. It's very important that we take away that fear factor of people using a defibrillator.'
