Oliver Mintzlaff, global head of soccer at the Bundesliga club, admits that his side are being left open to advances in the next window
Ibrahima Konate continues to see a summer move to Liverpool mooted, with RB Leipzig’s global head of soccer, Oliver Mintzlaff, confirming that there is a release clause in the defender’s contract.
An ambitious Bundesliga side that suffered a heavy defeat to Borussia Dortmund in the DFB-Pokal final on Thursday are already preparing to bid farewell to Dayot Upamecano this summer – as he has a €42.5 million (£37m/$52m) agreement in place with Bayern Munich.
They are understandably reluctant to part with another promising French centre-half, but interest in talented 21-year-old Konate is building and Mintzlaff admits there is little he can do to prevent bids from being tabled.
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What has been said?
Mintzlaff has told Sky Deutschland: “We’ll see what happens. I spoke to him this week. No decision has been made yet.
“There is an exit clause. That’s why we don’t sit in the driver’s seat. He is a player we want to keep.”
What is Konate’s exit clause?
RB Leipzig have stopped short of revealing what the fee stipulated in Konate’s current deal is, but there has been plenty of speculation on that.
It has been suggested that an offer of €40 million (£35m/$48m) would be enough to trigger an exit.
Liverpool may decide that is a price worth paying, with Jurgen Klopp in the market for defensive reinforcements.
He has seen injury struggles, particularly at the back, hinder his cause considerably at Anfield this season.
Konate would be a shrewd investment for the present and future, with there plenty of potential still to be unlocked in his game, but he claimed in April to have had no contact with any of his many suitors.
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