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Speculation linking Ibrahima Konate with a move to Real Madrid has quietened down somewhat since the transfer window closed, but one suspects that is only temporary.
After months of constant spinning, the rumor mill has slowed, but Konate's future will be back on the agenda before long considering his contract situation at Anfield.
The French center-back has not signed a new deal with Liverpool since joining the club in 2020, and while he is already part of one one of the very best squads in world soccer, it is never good news for a player's current club when Madrid is lurking.
Konate has been linked with a move to the Bernabeu for several months, and next summer he will be available to sign for a new club for nothing.
Madrid has made a habit of signing high-profile free agents in recent years, with David Alaba, Antonio Rudiger and Kylian Mbappe all picked up on free transfers.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, too, would have moved to the Spanish capital for nothing had this summer's Club World Cup not started while he was still originally scheduled to be contracted to Liverpool.
Even with that in mind, the €10 million ($12 million) fee that Madrid paid Liverpool to sign Alexander-Arnold in June was still nowhere near the player's €75 million ($88 million) market value.
One of those free signings from a previous year, Rudiger, has just suffered a serious injury that could prompt Madrid to accelerate its planned swoop for Konate; Rudiger has an anterior rectus injury in his left leg and is not expected to return until December at the earliest.
Coincidentally, a similar thing happened last year: Madrid's interest in Alexander-Arnold was well known when Dani Carvajal, Madrid's first-choice right-back, sustained a serious injury that kept him out for a very long period of time.
Madrid made an informal approach to sign Alexander-Arnold last January but Liverpool quickly shut the Spanish giant down, with Madrid being forced to wait until the summer to land the England right-back.
Could a similar approach be made during the 2025-26 winter window, for Konate, if Rudiger's injury keeps him out for longer than feared, or even if he comes back and isn't quite the same player? Rudiger will be 33 in March, and Konate could be viewed as the German's ideal long-term successor at Madrid.
There's no chance that Liverpool would let Konate go in the middle of the season without landing a replacement, but given Marc Guehi is also in the same situation as Konate, at Crystal Palace, it's not out of the question that we end up seeing a couple of high-profile defenders move to new clubs in January.
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