03 Jun 2026 06:07:43
Arsene Wenger explained what just happened with Ibrahima Konate back in May 2025. Real Madrid are signing top players on free transfers regularly despite having the money to pay big fees.
They did it with Trent Alexander-Arnold and they've now done it again with Konate. If you think Konate is being totally honest about not knowing he would be leaving Liverpool, you've got another thing coming.
He was supposedly in talks with Liverpool for over a year and a half and couldn't find an agreement, but then days after announcing he's leaving, Madrid reach a verbal agreement with him. Sure.
Anyway, Wenger said this to beIN Sports in May 2025: “I believe that it [Trent transfer] shows the trend of transfers now, and it shows a new trend in the game.
“There is no transfer anymore for the big, big players. They go all at the end of their contract because the wages are so high that [if] you want to buy Marcel [Desailly] today you have to give him so much money that you cannot pay the transfer anymore.
“So what do the big clubs do? They say two years before the end of a contract we want to buy you, we give you these wages and we will try to make an offer to the club.
“If it doesn’t work, we come back next year and if it doesn’t work then, we will take you for free. That is what they [Real Madrid] did with [Kylian] Mbappe as well.”
Alexis and Dom next in line.
03 Jun 2026 07:59:21
Indy saying Dom is stalling, so we might sell him this summer if he doesn't sign a contract.
03 Jun 2026 08:01:57
No surprise there, scummy club.
03 Jun 2026 08:35:03
We need to stop being taken for mugs. If they don't renew the summer before their contracts end, sell them.
03 Jun 2026 08:43:03
Guys, please think before getting emotional.
How do you sell a player:
1) who insists on seeing out their contract (they can do this 3 years out let alone 2)
2) who refuses to move to another club (family won't settle)
3) if no club is willing to offer you a fee?
These are questions you need to ponder before criticising the club.
03 Jun 2026 08:46:11
Is it the club, Fatwallet, or the agents and players extracting larger contracts and signing on fees?
03 Jun 2026 08:46:58
Real Madrid will continue to fail if this is to be their long-term strategy. Rudiger and Konate both suck, so it's their loss there anyway. Trent has some amazing utility, but thinks he's much better than he is. Mbappe is a world class but flawed player whose previous club has totally forgotten him, and whose compatriot has proven to be a better forward.
My point is that you have to be a certain level of d**khead to run down your contract so strategically all to join one club, and the more of these self-centered characters Real Madrid gather, the less they'll fight for one another when it gets tough.
Further, though Ronaldo, Bale, Modric, Benzema and Kroos et al were high maintenance, just look at the quality - the current Madrid squad is laughable in comparison.
03 Jun 2026 08:48:26
Ron, I would think it's quite simple. You buy their replacement and tell them they're riding the benching. Would have been especially effective in a World Cup year.
03 Jun 2026 08:50:35
It's both, Piffmunda, but more the club as a player (and by extension their agent) gets a percentage of any transfer fee.
03 Jun 2026 08:56:45
Jovanaldinho - And how does that address any of the questions posed?
They still don't have to leave.
Then you're just limiting your ability to meet the PSR rules.
03 Jun 2026 09:02:52
Just an additional point to Jovanaldinho:
Squad sizes are limited. You can't afford to have players on big wages who aren't in your squad. If you don't put them in your squad then you run the risk of injury to "the replacement". For example - Leoni.
03 Jun 2026 09:04:23
Jovanaldinho10, that's not even an option when you're a sell to buy club.
03 Jun 2026 09:05:42
It's really difficult for the club. We can't afford to bench players earning 200k a week, and unless we pay or offer uplifts on initial deals they'd never renew contracts.
So players show improvement, like Szob, we then up their money or at least try to keep them.
But the ball is in their court.
On Konate, I don't buy a word of what he's said, crocodile tears. Same with Trent. If Szob is next, so be it, I'd at least try to sell him if he's stalling, but easier said than done if RM or Bayern have had a word in his ear.
03 Jun 2026 09:11:35
I'd really hate to think Szobozlai is playing that game and won't sign a new contract.
03 Jun 2026 09:16:32
Not quite sure on this. The signing bonus ends up being a transfer fee in itself, really, then you end up paying higher wages and usually higher agents fees.
Sadly, Spain is just a completely bent league where refs are bought, agents are paid under the table, they don't release agents' figures.
So we will never get the true totals.
I can't see how Madrid are saving much money here.
03 Jun 2026 09:17:28
The point I was trying to make is that a player of Konate's calibre is not actually going to sit on the bench, he would find another club after being informed he will not start.
The way I see it is that we just paid 50mil to play Konate last season.
Also, it's hard to call us a sell to buy club after last summer's window (both the transfers and contract extensions).
03 Jun 2026 09:25:41
If Szobo ends up at Madrid, the club will have to do something going forward. We will become the free transfer feeder club for them lol.
03 Jun 2026 09:28:07
My view is that once you get past the two year point, make and if they've not signed before 18 months is up, tell the player you're actively seeking their replacement. If they choose to not to sign by the end of the season, they will be replaced, and they will be squad rotation at best, not first choice. They can either sign the contract, accept a transfer before the last year of their contract, or see the last year out from the bench watching their replacement playing instead.
So when they go to elsewhere, they get a player who hasn't played competitively for a year. I'd happily do that with both Mac & Szoboszlai. They are both easily replaced.
03 Jun 2026 09:31:28
I would be content to let Dom go based on his fashion sense alone. Fed up of seeing him pout with his handbags. Like a poor man's Lindsay Lohan. At least she was a bit of craic.
I dunno, I've got a feeling MacA might be able to rescue his Liverpool career if Andoni does a bit of fitness work with him. I still think we need someone to come in at 6.
03 Jun 2026 09:39:27
I agree with the general point on RM. If all they do is fill their ranks with players like Trent and Konate, eventually it'll catch up with them as they don't have the right characters, and they end up with the dressing room they've got.
With us, we are a high paying club, so should always be very competitive on the field, but probably have to accept that the foreign players, and increasingly English players as well, see us as a stepping stone to RM and Barca, and maybe also Bayern and PSG.
03 Jun 2026 09:43:29
One way would be to sign them for 8 years like Chelsea, then nobody runs down contract as too old once at the end of their deal, yes they could end up being not good enough and never wanting to leave home, that's the down side but it stops this trend of running down contracts and shite hawks like Madrid continually taking the piss.
Either that or be more creative in the contract details !!
03 Jun 2026 09:46:34
I think this is the way football is going. Players and their agents want the transfer fee money for themselves.
03 Jun 2026 10:11:16
DarrenA, and what if they end up being a Naby rather than a Dom?
Pay out the rest of their 8 year contract? Going back to Ron's point earlier, if they refuse a transfer and are happy to sit on the bench and/or play golf a la Gareth Bale, we're on the rack for 6/7 years of probably pretty high wages, and royally screwing up PSR.
03 Jun 2026 10:11:28
It's a player's right to run down their contract if they wish to. It's their career and being a free agent gives them options so why not.
I think it's a bit rich Liverpool fans calling out Konate for a lack of loyalty when all most have done this season is slag him off. Why can we call him whatever we want for poor performances and then expect him to show us loyalty? We booed the team off the pitch when most of them have just delivered us a title, for god's sake, who can blame them for thinking they owe us nothing?
Plus, no matter how much we love Liverpool, we have to acknowledge that the North West of England is not the warmest or most glamorous place to live.
I don't concern myself with players leaving, I just accept it as part of the game. The players have to do what they feel is best for them and their families and that's fine by me.
03 Jun 2026 10:17:06
And yet so many would be happy to lose Jones. Someone who I imagine would be happy to spend his career here. Not saying he's top class, but you wouldn't have to be worried about him wanting to run off to Spain every hands turn.
03 Jun 2026 10:26:47
DarrenA, that would be a good idea in a world that didn't involve primadonna football players who think the world owes them everything.
Imagine if we signed Naby Keita on an eight year contract. He would still be here picking up his wages and not playing.
There won't be a solution to the problem until someone changes the rules regarding these transfers. There needs to be some sort of remuneration to the club who have lost the player. These players are looked after by the clubs in every walk of life.
We had to pay something similar to Fulham for Harvey Elliott due to them training him for however many years he spent there at youth level.
As a bigger club, we are able to suffer these losses in transfer fees, but what happens when a Championship team gets a great crop of younger players coming through and the bigger clubs bide their time and take the heart of their team on a "free transfer".
Problem is, the cat is now out of the bag and there is no way to go back. It's sad that football is being talked about more for this than the actual game itself.
03 Jun 2026 10:35:46
That's the rub, Florian. If you have talented, ambitious, foreign players, particularly, they're likely to be passing through. If we're lucky we have the best of them for three, maybe four, years and then they go.
Mo was an anomaly, as have VVD and Ali. To keep them for the length of time we did was amazing, as they were probably the best players in the world in their positions for a few years.
I don't think anyone's that bothered about Konate the player leaving, it's more about what it says about our future as a club and whether we can keep the players we want to.
With Jones, yes he'd be happy to stay, I'm sure, but apparently we're well apart contractually and he wants massive money as well. He's not worth it tbh so he'll have to go as well.
03 Jun 2026 09:25:47
I couldn't care less about how they go about it. If we're successful and pay good money then players rarely want to leave. Very few did during Klopps term in charge. We bought well in replacements and if they go for free there's minimal we can do about it. It benefits clubs in both directions they can leave and we can get players in on free transfer too.
I don't care about Konate. He is the furthest from being a 'top player ' that I can imagine. They're welcome to him and he is most definitely welcome to them. A match made in heaven! Next season with Jose in charge is going to be fun.
03 Jun 2026 10:51:28
I know Overkill. Have to start getting players in though that see us as the destination instead of the layover.
03 Jun 2026 09:20:09
Indy talks out his arse so I wouldn't pay much attention. He was also one of the people claiming Slot ain't going anywhere and that we weren't signing Isak.
He makes Pearce look like a genius.
03 Jun 2026 10:51:36
I think all the "sell Szoboszlai" talk is premature, but he's said before his dream is to play for Madrid.
His contract expires in 2028. Don't sort it this summer and next summer we get a whole saga again, especially if it drags into the season. We can't afford another of these.
03 Jun 2026 10:53:49
Maybe an alternative view is to look at it like buying a car. It is difficult to predict residual value and sell on value at the end of your lease term or when you decide to sell. Either way, look at the purchase price and understand if you can afford to write off the full cost (depreciation), and don't expect any resale value.
If it is a lease, then you know your monthly/annual costs and at the end of your lease period you decide to buy it (renew contract) or hand it back and get a shiny new one.
03 Jun 2026 10:56:26
I'd be fine if we sold all of Mac, Szoboszlai & Jones. Not one of them is irreplaceable. I'd also be fine if we just brought in their replacements and demoted them to the bench if they didn't sign, and I'm not arsed if they don't sign either. Again, not one of them is that special that they're worth worrying about. Easily replaced.
03 Jun 2026 10:56:52
Do these players want to go to Real Madrid for the weather? They can all retire there comfortably when their career ends.
Do they want to go there to win trophies ... well that's not happening at the moment.
Or is it just for the kudos, and to satisfy their own over inflated egos?
As for Calamity Konate, we paid around £35 million for a bang average defender.
He's now off the wage bill, thank goodness.
03 Jun 2026 11:25:38
Only Trent out of the three can be mentioned as a top player.
You could easily replace Konate and Szobo.
03 Jun 2026 11:38:30
Taurus, you can think what you like about Indy, that's fine. However, what you say about him saying Slot was staying is untrue. On 9th of April, Indy posted that Slot would lose his job unless he won the Champions League, which was contrary to what Pearce and Ornstein were saying at the time.
He also was across the Isak transfer all summer. Also, this is a rumours page for rumours.
03 Jun 2026 11:39:52
Florian Jones isn't going to flit off, he's just not enough for a top side.
If Madrid or a big club came in for him he would go.
03 Jun 2026 11:42:21
Big time charlie like Dom S is obviously drawn to the most glamorous club. Remember when he signed it was all about LFC and Stevie G, and now it's apparently shifted.
As stated in a previous post regarding LFC management now working to counter this new phenomenon, and we know from experience that the grass is not always greener.
Stevie Mc and Alonso were successes where other floundered.
I imagine Ibou will do well there, and Trent may yet come good, but we've seen many players fail to fulfil potential upon leaving LFC.
The issue is, players and agents are entitled to long it out and string us along, and we expect loyalty. Humans are self-interested.
03 Jun 2026 12:01:31
Jones is just an example, Fatwallet. What I mean is we need players that, once they arrive, want to stay here for their careers. Obviously the best way of achieving that is through the academy (bar Trent). That's why I think any player that comes through and is even good enough to fill out the squad (which Jones definitely is) are worth their weight in gold.
03 Jun 2026 12:06:35
The only players in the team who are difficult to replace are Van Dijk, Ali & Salah, each one of those is a generational footballer (with the addition that Fabinho, who has also been difficult to replace and to date has not been adequately replaced).
Other than that there isn't one player who cannot be replaced if they leave. I personally think Konate will struggle at Madrid and he will soon find himself keeping Arnold Rat company on the bench as Mourinho is not a forgiving coach.
03 Jun 2026 12:09:26
When Madrid comes calling, it's hard for a man to resist. She is a sexy tart with a pretty face, curvy arse and perky tits & no man can say no.
03 Jun 2026 12:21:36
With Szobozlai (who I personally think is a top player), if he sees his contract out he'll be pushing 28 years old, and we'll have had 5 years of him at his prime. Considering his energetic, all action style of play, I don't see Madrid getting the same player at that age.
03 Jun 2026 12:22:06
Taking the emotion out of it.
Does Konate actually improve Real Madrid? I don't think so.
Has he played well for Liverpool recently? No.
Could Liverpool do better than him for much less wages? Yes.
If Madrid want to take him on a "free" with a big signing on fee and high wages - let them go for it.
Most (not all) fans wanted him moved on this summer anyway due to his horrendous performances.
03 Jun 2026 12:51:35
Under a manager like Iraola, Szoboszlai will be a huge asset for him especially OOP.
I hope Szoboszlai looks to sign a new contract. He can cover plenty of positions, provides huge energy in the team (even though his duelling is not great), and has elite levels of ball striking.
03 Jun 2026 13:03:58
Jovandinho, you said "player of Konate's calibre won't want to sit on the bench." That's his best position.
03 Jun 2026 13:25:21
Florian, it's the nature of the business now, it's agents who decide things, to push their bank balances higher, either by getting a cut for getting a new deal (usually after 2 years), bigger cut of a transfer or a huge cut from a free transfer.
To change the game, these parasites need to be reigned in. They take more money out of the game than anything else.
03 Jun 2026 15:11:14
Negative pattern of behaviour. Gesturing towards fans in defence of TAA before he left and online after he left. The fawning over Vini Jr. The gesturing at City. The reluctance to sign the deal while idolizing CR7. All adds up to a fundamental lack of trust.