Centre-back is a position that Manchester United are expected to strengthen in in the upcoming summer transfer window.
In that regard, they have been linked with a number of highly-rated defenders over the past several months. One of them has been RB Leipzig’s Ibrahima Konate.
The Red Devils had been heavily linked with Dayot Upamecano for over a year now, but after it emerged that he was headed for Bayern Munich at the end of the season, speculation started to grow about a possible move for his teammate, Konate.
But now, it looks like that might be off the table as well as the RB Leipzig defender appears to be closing in on a move to Liverpool instead. Fabrizio Romano tweeted out the news earlier:
https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1385647755532673027
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Manchester United handed Konate blow
Konate is regarded as one of the most talented young defenders in world football right now. Many even consider him to be just as good if not better than his RB Leipzig teammate, Upamecano. And at the reported €35 million, he could been a very good signing.
But there are certain questions surrounding Konate too. First of all, he has had his fair share of injury worries in recent years. Secondly, there is always the question of how a player will make the adjustment from the Bundesliga to the Premier League because the style of football played in the two leagues are very different.
While fans would have certainly been disappointed to see the club miss out on Konate, he is not the only defender who has been linked with a move to Manchester United in recent times though.
Raphael Varane is one more player who has been linked with the Red Devils heavily and could even be closing in on a Real Madrid exit in the near future. Other than that, names like Nikola Milenkovic, Kalidou Koulibaly, Sergio Ramos, Jules Kounde, Pau Torres and many others have been mentioned.