France defender Ibrahima Konate is set to leave Liverpool for free when his contract expires in June.
Long-term discussions took place to renew Konate’s deal, but have ended without a resolution amid a gap between the centre-half and club over his value and wages.
Konate, 27, joined Liverpool from RB Leipzig in 2021 for £35m on a five-year contract.
Both parties were initially keen to agree a renewal, with Konate telling reporters after April’s Merseyside derby he was “close to an agreement” and there was a “big chance” he would remain at Anfield next season.
Negotiations began in November 2023, but an agreement has proven elusive.
BBC Sport understands negotiations have now stopped and Konate will become the latest player to leave Liverpool on a free this summer after Andy Robertson and Mohamed Salah.
Last year, defender Trent Alexander-Arnold joined Real Madrid a month before his contract expired after the Spanish club paid a fee to release him early to play in the Club World Cup.
Captain Virgil van Dijk’s current deal expires next summer, while the Reds failed to sign Marc Guehi on deadline day last September, with the England player joining Manchester City in January.
Liverpool are confident they have sufficient depth at centre-half after recruiting Giovanni Leoni last summer and the arrival of £60m Jeremy Jacquet, 20, this summer.
But it does leave Van Dijk, 34, and Joe Gomez, 29, as their only experienced central defenders.
Frenchman Jacquet, who turns 21 in July, played 21 games for Rennes last season but missed the last four months with a shoulder injury.
Leoni, 19, was ruled out for a year after after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in September, a month after joining the Reds from Parma for a fee of £26m plus add-ons.
The belief within Liverpool is that other areas – like replacing Salah and filling the gap after Hugo Ekitike’s long-term injury – are priorities, rather than agreeing to an expensive renewal for Konate.
Leaving Anfield on a free
In the modern era Liverpool have allowed several players to leave the club without earning a fee.
Influential forward Roberto Firmino left the club on a free in 2023 after manager Jurgen Klopp said he wanted him to stay.
Dutch midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum featured in every Premier League match among 51 appearances during his final season for Liverpool before becoming a free agent in the summer of 2021.
Liverpool opted not to renew the contracts of Emre Can, Adam Lallana and James Milner who all left without Merseyside without earning the club a fee, as did Naby Keita, Divock Origi and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
