Ibrahima Konate Contract Latest: Lewis Steele Still Expects Liverpool Stay

The Ibrahima Konate situation remains one of the stranger threads around Liverpool’s summer planning. On Anfield Index’s Media Matters, Dave Davis raised the issue directly with Lewis Steele, pointing back to Konate’s own comments from April, when the defender said: “for a long time we have spoken with the club and we are close to an agreement.”

Yet with his current Liverpool contract set to expire at the end of next month, the silence since then has become difficult to ignore.

Konate silence feels increasingly strange

Davis framed it neatly, saying “the season’s finished and it seems to have gone quiet on like a new contract”. His view was that it felt “a bit strange” last week, and “even stranger now”.

Steele did not push back. “Yeah,” he said, before adding that Konate was another player who “walked through the mix zone” while journalists asked, “what’s going on?” According to Steele, Konate “just carried on walking”.

That detail matters because the wider context is not calm. Liverpool have a huge summer ahead, contracts are a major part of the agenda, and Konate’s future should, in theory, be one of the cleaner pieces of business. Instead, it remains unresolved.

Liverpool and Konate still want agreement

The most important line from Steele was also the most reassuring for Liverpool supporters. “As far as I understand it, Konate wants to stay and Liverpool want him to stay,” he said.

That suggests the broad intention remains positive. This does not sound like a player determined to leave, nor a club ready to move on. Steele’s reading was that “there’s just a few final details that have provided a little bit of a stumbling block maybe”, and that those details “just need to be ironed out”.

Still, he immediately questioned the delay. “But how long does that take?” he asked. That frustration is understandable. In a summer where Liverpool need clarity, the Konate contract has become another drawn out issue.

Liverpool contract delays raise frustration

Steele’s wider criticism was pointed. “I don’t understand why all of these contract renewals take 100 times longer for Liverpool than they seem to do for any other club,” he said. He called it “bizarre”.

That is the tension at the heart of this story. The expectation remains that Konate signs, but the process is testing patience. Liverpool need defensive stability, especially with broader uncertainty across the squad. Allowing a key centre back to drift this close to the end of his deal invites pressure from elsewhere.

Steele still leaned towards a positive outcome. “As we sit here today, I do still think that he will end up staying,” he told Davis.

Clock now matters for Liverpool

The concern is timing. Steele warned that “every day that goes by” creates more doubt, especially with international football ahead and the possibility of outside voices entering the conversation.

He said that once Konate is with France, “his French colleagues could be in their camp saying in his ear”, potentially urging him to “forget about that deal that’s taking too long” and “come and sign for us instead”.

That is not presented as a certainty, but as a risk Liverpool have created by failing to finish the agreement. Steele summed up the stand off as “a bit like a bit of a phony war at the moment”.

So, is Ibrahima Konate still expected to sign a new Liverpool contract? Based strictly on Steele’s comments to Davis on Anfield Index, yes, but the confidence comes with a warning. Konate wants to stay, Liverpool want him to stay, but the longer the delay continues, the more uncomfortable this becomes.