Is Ibrahima Konate steadily overtaking Van Dijk as Liverpool’s best CB? | OneFootball

“I’ll have to be one of the best centre-halves in Europe if I’m starting for Liverpool,” Jarell Quansah remarked during the most recent international break.

After impressing during a shock breakthrough campaign in 2023/24 and earning a place in England’s preliminary squad for Euro 2024 — but not making the final cut — Quansah was handed the start in Liverpool’s first Premier League match under Arne Slot away at Ipswich Town.

However, the 21-year-old was withdrawn at half-time and hasn’t played since, abruptly remaining an unused substitute in four Premier League games and the Champions League trip to AC Milan.

The man to replace Quansah in the side — and keep Joe Gomez warming the bench — is the very player he ousted from the XI toward the end of the Jurgen Klopp era, Ibrahima Konate, and you only have to look at the Frenchman’s statistical return since coming back into the side to see why he can’t be moved.

Among outfield players to contest more than four aerial duels in the Premier League this season, Konate has the highest success rate at 90%, while his closest rival among players to contest double-figure aerial duels, West Ham’s Konstantinos Mavropanos, is way back on 78.57%.

No Liverpool defender has won possession in the defensive third on more occasions than Konate (20) so far in the Premier League and Champions League combined this season, while he’s second only to Virgil van Dijk when it comes to aerial duels won (25-20), clearances (34-26) and passes completed (415-363). But it’s important to note that Konate has played an hour less than Van Dijk, with the two almost impossible to separate on a per 90-minute basis.

In fact, is there an argument forming that Konate — who scored the equaliser in the Reds’ 3-1 win away at AC Milan in the Champions League — is starting to overtake his Dutch counterpart as Liverpool’s most important centre-back?

The 25-year-old currently sits joint-top of the Squawka Score standings among centre-backs and has drawn widespread and significant praise recently for his performances.

“[Konate] is quick, he’s strong, he’s big, he’s good in the air, seems to be, you know, intelligent in his defensive work. Is there a flaw?” said Match of the Day presenter and former England striker Gary Lineker recently.  Fellow BBC pundit Micah Richards added: “When Konate’s come into the team, he’s aggressive, he’s powerful, he takes a lot of chances.”

After Konate set up Luis Diaz’s opener in the 3-0 win over Bournemouth at the weekend, Slot said: “In the first goal, Ibou (Konate) recognised really well that they had a high last line and they wanted to press us really high. He recognised the right moment to play the ball in behind.”

All of this is just months after Jamie Carragher suggested Liverpool replace Konate after a string of poor performances last season.

“Konate’s been so poor of late, really poor,” Carragher said in April. “Liverpool need to buy a centre-back in the summer.”

Konate has now established himself as one of the first names on Slot’s teamsheet, keeping Quansah and Gomez out of the picture in the process.

With Van Dijk turning 33 over the summer and into the final year of his contract, the timing couldn’t be better for a new leader to emerge at the heart of Liverpool’s defence. To suggest Konate has already overtaken his partner is probably slightly premature, but he appears to be preparing himself for the talismanic role played by the towering Dutchman at Anfield over the past six-and-a-half years.