Alongside Konate: FSG must sell Liverpool star who earns more than Szoboszlai

Liverpool know that if they are dumped out of the Champions League by Galatasaray next week, the Anfield atmosphere will sour like old milk.

This has been a difficult campaign, for sure, but Arne Slot‘s side need to fight for silverware after falling so far behind Arsenal et al. in the Premier League title race, and for Slot to fall at the first hurdle in the Champions League knockout phase once again would be detrimental.

With Manchester City waiting at the Etihad in the FA Cup quarter-finals and Liverpool not even occupying a Champions League position in the league right now, all is not well on Merseyside, and Slot needs to shake the mistakes from his side’s game and find some fluency and balance as we enter the business months.

Liverpool, after all, need to rebuild once again this year, shore up the defence and replenish the frontline. At the back, Ibrahima Konate has returned to his error-filled ways, but FSG are still trying to renew his soon-to-expire contract.

Ibrahima Konate’s Liverpool form

Konate was at the epicentre of Liverpool’s 1-0 defeat to Galatasaray in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie this week. He made a series of mistakes and lacked authority alongside Virgil van Dijk.

While sporting director Richard Hughes has been locked in talks to tie the France international, 26, down to a new contract, his current deal months away from expiry, many fans feel that his performances suggest Liverpool won’t be getting bang for their buck.

There’s no question that Konate has bounced back over the past several months, but the recent purple patch, such as it is, hasn’t yet solidified into the kind of form that proved so crucial in winning the Premier League last season.

Ibrahima Konate: Liverpool Errors by Season (PL & UCL/UEL)
Season	Apps	Error Count
25/26	35	7
24/25	38	5
23/24	29	1
22/23	21	5
21/22	19	2

With Jeremy Jacquet arriving from Rennes in a £60m deal and Giovanni Leoni working toward returning from a cruel ACL injury, Konate might not be indispensable.

And he wouldn’t be the only one, with one of the club’s biggest stars at risk of being axed this summer.

FSG must sell Liverpool “superstar”

Liverpool have fallen so far below expectations that it beggars belief. And while someone like Mohamed Salah epitomises the decline, the Egyptian King is nearly 34 years old.

Harder to explain is the fall-off of Alexis Mac Allister, who once again flattered to deceive on Tuesday evening, lacking his former athleticism and energy and impetus on the ball.

Galatasaray’s physicality proved too much for the Argentina international, who recently turned 27, yet has played throughout the season like a veteran in the autumn phase of their career.

Sometimes this season, it has been painful to watch. How has Mac Allister lost so much of what made him a “superstar“, as praised by pundit Joe Cole for his talismanic role in the middle of the Anfield park?

Mac Allister vs Galatasaray
Match Stats	#
Minutes played
Goals + Assists	0 + 0
Touches	57
Accurate passes	37/46 (80%)
Possession lost	12x
Chances created	2
Dribbles	0/2
Ball recoveries	3
Tackles won	1/2
Clearances	1
Duels won	3/9
Fouls	2

Tuesday’s defeat was a microcosm of Mac Allister and Liverpool’s wider problems. After all, in the Premier League, he has made 1.5 tackles and 2.9 ball recoveries per game, down from 2.7 and 4.2 last season.

Earlier this week, Mac Allister stated that he’s not in any rush to get the ball rolling vis-à-vis a new contract at Liverpool. He still has over a year on his current reported £7.8m-per-year deal, which for context, is even more than Dominik Szoboszlai’s salary of £6.2m, and appears to be waiting for opportunities to sprout up for him to consider this summer.

This is a concern, of course. The former Brighton star has expressed in the past a desire to move to La Liga and play for the likes of Barcelona or Real Madrid. Los Blancos and PSG are currently weighing up bids. However, Mac Allister’s decline has tempered the fanbase’s worries, with many bound to welcome the thought of a replacement to freshen up the engine room.

Arne Slot and Alexis Mac Allister for Liverpool

Ultimately, if Liverpool don’t part with struggling superstars like Konate and Mac Allister, and they continue to leave much to be desired next year, the powers that be will surely wish that they had.