Real Madrid growing confident of signing Ibrahima Konaté as Liverpool monitor youngsters and manage injuries

Real Madrid are increasingly confident they can sign Liverpool centre back Ibrahima Konaté on a free transfer next summer, according to sources cited by Liverpool Confidential. The 26-year-old enters the final six months of his contract in January, when overseas clubs are formally able to discuss pre-contract terms, and multiple contacts in Madrid have told Confidential they believe they can tempt him to Spain.

Liverpool maintain they are committed to reaching a new agreement with Konaté and have had no official indication from the player's camp that he wishes to leave Anfield. The club opened contract talks with Konaté in November but no deal has been concluded. Konaté himself has spoken publicly of his contentment at Liverpool, saying after the title run-in that he was "very happy here" and had objectives to "become a leader, to win everything." He later acknowledged discussions between his agent and the club were ongoing and did not rule anything out.

Confidential reported parallels between Konaté's situation and that of Trent Alexander-Arnold, who last year entered similar contract uncertainty before Real Madrid mounted a bid. Some Madrid staffers have suggested privately that they are close to a verbal agreement with Konaté; the player joked on French television this week that France teammate Kylian Mbappé had "called me every two hours" attempting to persuade him to move to the Bernabéu.

While Real grow in confidence, Liverpool sources stress the club have received no communication from Konaté expressing a desire to depart. The defender’s future is expected to become clearer once he enters the final six months of his deal on January 1, when pre-contract approaches from foreign clubs become permissible under FIFA rules.

Elsewhere in Liverpool’s recruitment and squad news, the club have sent scouts to monitor Robinho Jnr, the 17-year-old son of former Brazil forward Robinho, who is on the verge of breaking into Santos’ first team. The teenager, often used as a substitute for the Sao Paulo club, has been mentored by Neymar since the senior forward’s return to Santos. Confidential said Reds scout Dassler Marques has attended a number of matches this season to watch the youngster, who reportedly wears his father's No. 7 shirt and is said to have a release clause of around £43 million.

Chelsea are also understood to be monitoring Robinho Jnr, with their South American scouting team led by Alysson Marins. Santos, which has produced numerous high-profile talents, has been cautious about overexposure of the teenager owing to sensitive headlines surrounding his family; Robinho Sr is currently serving a nine-year prison sentence in Brazil for a rape conviction from 2013, and the club has sought to protect the young player's development. Robinho Jnr’s mother acts as his de facto agent, according to reporting.

Injury and squad updates at Liverpool saw right back Jeremie Frimpong return to training this week after a hamstring problem that sidelined him for matches against Newcastle and Arsenal and forced him to miss a Netherlands camp. Frimpong remains in contention to play at Burnley on Sunday. Fellow right back Conor Bradley also enjoyed a positive international camp with Northern Ireland, where he featured against Germany and Europa-league prospect Florian Wirtz.

Midfielder Stefan Bajčetić is nearing full fitness after undergoing hamstring surgery in May and missing Liverpool’s pre-season tour of Asia. The 20-year-old has been working on recovery and is expected to join full training soon; Confidential reports suggest he could be given minutes with Liverpool’s Under-21s in the coming weeks, with Rob Page’s youth side next due to face Manchester United.

Rob Page, the former Wales manager, will take charge of Liverpool’s UEFA Youth League campaign this season with Under-18s coach Simon Wiles as his assistant. The Under-19s begin their Youth League campaign by hosting Atlético Madrid at Kirkby on Wednesday afternoon ahead of the senior sides’ evening fixture at Anfield.

Coaching staff changes have seen Aaron Briggs take on the role of set-piece coach after moving from a broader player-development position. Briggs, a former Manchester City staffer, has been part of Arne Slot’s coaching team since Slot’s arrival. Liverpool’s set-piece returns have been middling since the start of last season: the club rank around mid-table for both goals scored and conceded from set-plays and have created an expected-goals figure that falls short of rivals such as Arsenal, prompting calls for improvement.

Travel arrangements for Liverpool supporters planning to attend the Champions League group-stage trip to Marseille on January 21 had been complicated by a lack of direct flights from Liverpool John Lennon Airport the day before the match. Confidential said there were no direct options and limited one-change routes displayed on some booking platforms, leaving fans to consider multi-leg journeys via Dublin, Madrid or London with onward Eurostar and train travel. easyJet has added a special service that departs Liverpool at 8 a.m. on the day of the match and returns the following lunchtime, a solution that alleviates the difficulty but comes with fares starting at roughly £347.

Small symbolic changes have also appeared at the AXA Training Centre, where a new picture wall has begun to take shape featuring moments from Liverpool’s opening fixtures this season. The display, currently three picture boards deep with scenes such as a late winner by Rio Ngumoha and a decisive free-kick by Dominik Szoboszlai, mirrors a commemorative approach used by the Boston Red Sox during their 2018 season and is intended as a daily visual of key moments for players and staff.

In club and cultural news, Willem II, the Dutch club where Virgil van Dijk spent 11 years in the academy, unveiled a new youth stand named in the Liverpool captain’s honour. Van Dijk attended the inauguration with his family and will return later in the year to launch the Virgil’s Legacy Trophy youth tournament.

A new documentary on Sir Kenny Dalglish, directed by Asif Kapadia, is scheduled to premiere in cinemas on October 29 and will be released on Amazon Prime the following week. The film features interviews with members of the Dalglish family and former Liverpool teammates, and has been positioned by its director as a project to introduce Dalglish’s playing and off-field contributions to a new generation.

The developments outlined by Liverpool Confidential underscore a busy mid-season period for the Premier League champions: contract negotiations that could reshape their back line, scouting work aimed at long-term talent acquisition, injury comebacks that could bolster squad depth, and logistical challenges tied to a packed European calendar.