{"id":578938,"date":"2021-01-15T10:54:42","date_gmt":"2021-01-15T15:54:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=578938"},"modified":"2021-01-15T10:54:42","modified_gmt":"2021-01-15T15:54:42","slug":"liverpool-interested-in-rb-leipzig-duo-ibrahima-konate-and-dayot-upamecano","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2021\/01\/15\/liverpool-interested-in-rb-leipzig-duo-ibrahima-konate-and-dayot-upamecano\/","title":{"rendered":"Liverpool Interested in RB Leipzig Duo Ibrahima Konat\u00e9 and Dayot Upamecano"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/category\/premier-league\/liverpool\/\" target=\"_self\">Liverpool<\/a> are interested in striking a deal with <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/category\/bundesliga\/\" target=\"_self\">Bundesliga<\/a> side RB Leipzig over the signings of <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/5ed9b537\/Ibrahima-Konate?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ibrahima Konat\u00e9<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/d248cd8f\/Dayot-Upamecano?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dayot Upamecano<\/a>, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cfbayern\/status\/1350022713285496832?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BILD Sport&#8217;s Christian Falk<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, Fabrizio Romano <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/soccer\/news\/here-we-go-ozil-nears-arsenal-exit-brightons-shock-transfer-bid-for-caicedo-real-madrid-in-pole-for-alaba\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">is reporting<\/a> that the Anfield club are preparing to offer a new contract to influential defender <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/e06683ca\/Virgil-van-Dijk?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Virgil van Dijk<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Liverpool Interested in RB Leipzig Pair<\/h2>\n<h3>Reds Have Already Contacted Upamecano Agent<\/h3>\n<p>French defender Upamecano has built up a stellar reputation internationally while on the books at RB Leipzig. The 22-year-old put in a series of impressive performances last season as Julien Nagelsmann led his side to the semi-finals of the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/category\/champions-league\/\" target=\"_self\">Champions League<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>That run would come to an end at the hands of French giants <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/clubs\/paris-saint-germain\/\" target=\"_self\">Paris Saint-Germain<\/a>, but not before Upamecano had gathered the attention of a host of top clubs across Europe. Falk is reporting that Liverpool are joined by both <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/category\/premier-league\/chelsea\/\" target=\"_self\">Chelsea<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/clubs\/bayern-munich\/\" target=\"_self\">Bayern Munich<\/a> as having already been in touch with the player&#8217;s agent over a possible move for the young centre-back.<\/p>\n<p>If Jurgen Klopp&#8217;s Liverpool were to succeed in luring Upamecano to Anfield, any move would likely occur in the summer transfer window. This is because the player&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/sport\/football\/13234378\/man-utd-upamecano-release-clause\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u00a340 million release clause<\/a> reportedly comes into effect at the end of the 2020\/21 season.<\/p>\n<p>Upamecano has continued to impress throughout the current campaign, making 14 appearances in the German top flight.<\/p>\n<h3>Klopp Also Wants to Bring in Konat\u00e9 From RB Leipzig<\/h3>\n<p>It is also being reported that Reds boss Klopp is looking to bring Upamecano&#8217;s central defensive partner Ibrahima Konat\u00e9 to Anfield as well. The 21-year-old is contracted at Leipzig until 2023 and has already made 86 appearances in all competitions for the club.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, Leipzig are yet to taste defeat in any Bundesliga match in which Konat\u00e9 has featured this season. However, the defender&#8217;s season has been significantly curtailed by separate ankle and hip injuries.<\/p>\n<h3>Van Dijk to be Offered Contract Renewal at Liverpool<\/h3>\n<p>Away from developments relating to the transfer market, it is being reported that current Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk is soon to be offered a contract extension by the club.<\/p>\n<p>The Dutchman&#8217;s existing deal runs until 2023, but Fabrizio Romano has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/soccer\/news\/here-we-go-ozil-nears-arsenal-exit-brightons-shock-transfer-bid-for-caicedo-real-madrid-in-pole-for-alaba\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told CBS Sports<\/a> that Liverpool are &#8220;focused&#8221; on ensuring that his long-term future remains on Merseyside.<\/p>\n<p>Romano also stated that the club&#8217;s board &#8220;has plans to offer the Dutch defender [a] renewal of his contract, and the negotiations will begin in the coming months.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Van Dijk currently remains sidelined by the severe knee injury suffered in a collision with <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/category\/premier-league\/everton\/\" target=\"_self\">Everton<\/a> goalkeeper <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/4806ec67\/Jordan-Pickford?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jordan Pickford<\/a> last October.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"OGOZO8stRQNhcV27qKen4w\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.co.uk\/detail\/1151431136\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'OGOZO8stRQNhcV27qKen4w',sig:'74CEuIhkd9TmUZPcGrmi6TEYBOghGXu-8i2qGgIjQpE=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1151431136',caption: true ,tld:'co.uk',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Liverpool are interested in striking a deal with Bundesliga side RB Leipzig over the signings of Ibrahima Konat\u00e9 and Dayot Upamecano, according to BILD Sport&#8217;s Christian Falk. Additionally, Fabrizio Romano is reporting that the Anfield club are preparing to offer a new contract to influential defender Virgil van Dijk. Liverpool Interested in RB Leipzig Pair [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3563,"featured_media":578970,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16,4,2,3,7188,28],"tags":[53,46,4085,45,3600,248,2857,126,84,620,756,136],"class_list":["post-578938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-liverpool","category-bundesliga","category-featured","category-premier-league","category-rumours","category-transfers","tag-bayern-munich","tag-chelsea","tag-dayot-upamecano","tag-everton","tag-ibrahima-konate","tag-jordan-pickford","tag-julien-nagelsmann","tag-jurgen-klopp","tag-paris-saint-germain","tag-rb-leipzig","tag-virgil-van-dijk","tag-world-football"],"modified_by":"Dale Ventham, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3563"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=578938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578938\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/578970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=578938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=578938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=578938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}