Ibrahima Konate says he is inspired to win trophies for “unbelievable” team-mate Mo Salah in the hope that the forward can win the Ballon d’Or for the first time.
“Everything he has done since the start of the season, even since he’s played for Liverpool – it’s crazy what he’s done,” laughed the Frenchman when asked about Salah’s contribution to Liverpool’s title challenge.
He is effusive in his praise for the 32-year-old, and why not? By conventional wisdom Salah should be past his peak, looking towards the end of his days at the top of the game.
Instead, he is posting the best numbers of his career to lead the Golden Boot race from Erling Haaland, with a goal involvement every 57 minutes on average.
Much of his contribution speaks for itself, but not his support for his team-mates behind closed doors.
That is what motivates Konate to return the favour, in line with his own personal ambitions, and why he wants to help the forward surpassing his previous best Ballon d’Or finish of fifth and lift the trophy next October.
He says: “I really hope we will achieve great things this season because if he keeps going like this, I think at the end of the season he can win the Ballon d’Or.
“He will never say that because I think his objective is just to win big things with Liverpool. He doesn’t really think about himself like, ‘okay, I want to score more goals, I want to have more assists’ – he just wants to win the game.
“He just wants to share his experience with the new players, young players. And for me, it’s unbelievable to be a player like that at his age and to be so professional like that.”
Konate is impressed by Salah, but knew the heights the forward could reach before he joined him at Anfield from RB Leipzig in 2021. He was not so clued-up on the quality of defensive colleague Virgil van Dijk before his arrival.
After three years of a burgeoning relationship and his maturity into the towering Dutchman’s first-choice partner, he feels the duo can not only rival Gabriel and William Saliba as the Premier League’s best centre-back pairing, but anyone in world football.
“What a defender,” he smiles again. “When I was in Leipzig and I watched some Liverpool games, I didn’t realise how good he was.
“And when I came here sometimes I would just think, no, how is this possible? He’s too good. When I first came here, he gave me a lot of advice and he helped my adaptation.
“On the pitch now, how I need him, I think it’s the same for him with me. We just work together and try to be the best partnership in the world.
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Ex-Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says he hopes Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk stay at Liverpool amid contract discussions and would take them at Red Bull
“Some strikers see Virgil, and are just like ‘okay, now I have no chance against him’. They don’t give 100 per cent.”
That chemistry has been helped by the approach Arne Slot has taken at Anfield since succeeding Jurgen Klopp, with the balance the affable manager has struck labelled the best in world football by his predecessor earlier this week.
Konate is not afraid to compare the two and thinks the measure of control Slot has brought after nine years of ‘heavy metal’ football under the Klopp dynasty has improved the side. The numbers would suggest so; Liverpool have a tighter defence than in three of the previous last four seasons.
He says: “[Trent Alexander-Arnold] helps a lot when we attack which leaves me with a big space to defend. But how the manager has explained to us to defend all together has helped me and the team a lot.
“If you can see and compare to the last season or the season before as well, we were more exposed. But now when we lose the ball, everyone tries to help the team and I think we are more together.
“Nobody was expecting the manager to do what he has done since the start of the season. He has a great idea of playing, he knows what to do and it’s not about adaptation to the other team. I think this makes a lot of difference for us compared to under Jurgen.”
