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A spurious transfer report published in the Italian press claims that Liverpool could allow Ibrahima Konate to leave during the January transfer window for just $17.5 million.
The claim published by L'Interista says that Liverpool would be willing to let Konate leave for a cut-price fee in order to avoid losing him for nothing at the end of the season.
Considering Liverpool only currently has two fit center-backs, there is no chance that the Reds would allow one of them to leave next month.
Joe Gomez has struggled with persistent fitness issues for the last year, while Giovanni Leoni may not play again for the remainder of the season after suffering a serious knee injury in September.
Even if Liverpool had managed to sign Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace during the summer transfer window, the Reds would still have been unlikely to sanction a January exit for Konate.
Coincidentally, the report says that Inter Milan is interested in signing either Konate or Guehi in January – but a deal to sign the Crystal Palace captain seems equally unlikely.
Meanwhile, Football Insider reports that Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes is keen to sign at least two new center-backs in 2026.
Unsurprisingly, Guehi is said to be one of the targets after the Reds missed out on signing him on transfer deadline day.
Liverpool fans will remember that the Reds agreed a fee with Palace for the England star on September 1, only for Palace to U-turn on that deal over concerns about a lack of depth in the Eagles' defense.
That left the Reds a defender short of where they wanted to be heading into the new season, and Leoni's major injury, coupled with Gomez's problems, has hugely exacerbated the situation — were Konate or Virgil van Dijk to suffer a serious injury now, Liverpool would be in big trouble at the back.
The other player that Liverpool is supposedly interested in is Jeremy Jacquet, a 20-year-old center-back who currently plays for Ligue 1 side Rennes.
France has produced some of the most hyped young defenders in the world in recent years, with William Saliba, Leny Yoro, and Wesley Fofana among the current Premier League center-backs who started their careers in France, and the hope is that Jacquet could be the next big French defender.
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