He’s better than Konate: Liverpool plotting bid to sign £90m Premier League star

Liverpool have run for years on diligence and intelligence in the transfer market, always a step ahead of their rivals. It has paid off. Across the past decade, the Reds have won the Champions League, two Premier League titles, and many more trophies besides.

But we feel some way away from that thrilling level of success at the moment, with Arne Slot and his side in the trenches after a dismal post-title year.

How to move forward? Well, FSG believe that change is the key. Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson both leave this summer, and recent news has emerged regarding Ibrahima Konate‘s future too.

The French centre-back appears to have played his last game for the Merseysiders, set to leave when his contract expires in one month. It goes without saying that he needs replacing.

Liverpool plotting bid for Konate replacement

Liverpool have signed Jeremy Jacquet from Rennes in a £60m deal. He arrives this summer, billed as a prospect with “top-five centre-back in the world potential” by analyst Ben Mattinson.

Last weekend, Virgil van Dijk sat, dejected, staring out at the Anfield crowd. It was a tough season, and he shouldered much of the burden, speaking repeatedly to the media and trying to make sense of Liverpool’s staggering drop-off.

Jacquet is a talented centre-half, but Liverpool need more, and sporting director Richard Hughes is leading the charge with that one, planning to sign one of the Premier League’s most prominent centre-backs.

According to Sports Boom, Liverpool are weighing up a bid for Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven, who is eager to leave north London after helping his side stave off relegation from the Premier League.

Van de Ven, 25, is valued at £90m, and it should go without saying that Spurs will play hardball in their efforts to keep onto a player viewed as their star man.

Why Van de Ven would be Liverpool’s dream Konate replacement

If you think Liverpool have had a poor season, penny for Tottenham’s thoughts. Of course, it’s all relative, and for the Reds to have flirted with Europa League football is as poor as it can be.

But Van de Ven has the quality to make a real difference in Slot’s squad, having been described as a “monster” by football reporter Elliot Jackson for his athleticism and physicality at the back.

Rare is the Netherlands international’s ability to blend crunching defending with an agility and robustness that simply doesn’t conform to defensive conventions. Surely this is a prancing winger in a muscled 6 foot 4 body.

Konate has been a rock in Liverpool’s defence over the past five years, but rocks can be broken, and he has struggled throughout the 2025/26 season, very much at the epicentre of his side’s decline. Mistakes have been rife, and he has lost the sureness that helped Liverpool to the Premier League title last year.

Van de Ven obviously hasn’t been perfect himself, but he has been unfortunate in that he has been stuck at the heart of a, frankly, incredible Spurs decline.

He’s still stood out. Tottenham’s defence might have been porous over the past few years, but it’s curious that Van de Ven and Cristian Romero have stood out as the mainstays, the main men. The ones who have been willing to dig in and pull their club away from disaster. Liverpool could do with that, for Van Dijk is getting old and Konate is leaving – the France star has struggled in any case this year.

Van de Ven is the real deal, and if Liverpool can sort out their imbalances under Slot, they could thrive with the Dutchman at the heart of their defence, a perfect blend with Van Dijk, his inspiring countryman.