Jamie Carragher completes incredible U-turn on 'fantastic' Liverpool star he wanted to leave

Jamie Carragher has hailed Liverpool star Ibrahima Konate following his run of form in recent games - but he wanted him replaced earlier this year.

Konate, who joined the club from RB Leipzig in 2021, has been a consistent figure for Liverpool since joining and has been Virgil van Dijk’s best and most reliable partner. Seen as the future of their defence, he has been brilliant for club and country in recent months and certainly one of the club’s best players this season and starred once again against Arsenal.

And yet, following the Merseyside defeat in April earlier this year, Carragher said that Konate wasn’t good enough and that the club needed to sign a new defender in that position. After Dominic Calvert-Lewin had given Van Dijk and Konate one of their toughest evenings in a Liverpool shirt, frustrations were high after a poor spell which included the defeat at Goodison Park, that all but ended their league aspirations.

On that particular evening, Konate was brought off after just 63 minutes after his error led to a goal and he struggled overall. In commentary, Carragher said, “Konate’s been so poor of late, really poor,” Carragher fumed. “Liverpool need to buy a centre-back in the summer.”

Since then, Konate has been in great form with Carragher hailing him for his performance against Arsenal and how he defended the wide channels expertly. “He was amazing, he was fantastic and probably Liverpool’s best player,” he began. “How much he stopped that side and Konate always finds himself as a cross between a centre-back and a right-back.”

Having avoided a VAR call for his challenge on Gabriel Martinelli, he was in great form making seven clearances and winning three of his four ground duels. The Reds boast the best defensive record in the league with just five goals against them and Konate has been a crucial part of that.

While his original comments on Konate may have been knee-jerk at the time, the narrative is far different now. Van Dijk is likely to extend his deal after entering negotiations, while Jarell Quansah has already agreed a new contract - Konate is said to be on the way for that too - and tying him down will be just as important as anyone else.