Liverpool boss Arne Slot didn\u2019t go out of his way to defend Ibrahima Konate after another disappointing display against Leeds United.<\/p>\n
The defender gave away the penalty that let Leeds back into the match and then failed to deal with Anton Stach\u2019s effort that levelled the score at 2-2.<\/p>\n
Speaking afterwards, Slot admitted this wasn\u2019t the first time Konate has looked shaky in key moments this season \u2014 a pretty strong indication that the Dutch manager\u2019s patience is wearing thin.<\/p>\n
Is a split between Liverpool and Konate nearing?
\nKonate\u2019s dip in form also comes at a time when questions remain about his contract situation. With only months left on his current deal, he could leave for free next summer unless he chooses to renew.<\/p>\n
Given his current performances, many Liverpool supporters may not be too concerned if the 26-year-old were to move on.<\/p>\n
Slot\u2019s willingness to criticise him so openly suggests he may be close to losing faith in the defender entirely. That could lead to Konate being dropped and perhaps even pave the way for a departure at the end of the season.<\/p>\n
Adding to the uncertainty, reports from The Athletic claim Real Madrid are no longer pursuing Konate \u2014 meaning his slump might impact his future options as well.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Liverpool boss Arne Slot didn\u2019t go out of his way to defend Ibrahima Konate after another disappointing display against Leeds United. The defender gave away the penalty that let Leeds back into the match and then failed to deal with Anton Stach\u2019s effort that levelled the score at 2-2. Speaking afterwards, Slot admitted this wasn\u2019t …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":56304,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/resize-2.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=56346"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56352,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56346\/revisions\/56352"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/56304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=56346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=56346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=56346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}