Real Madrid have confirmed the signing of defender Ibrahima Konate.
The LaLiga side have agreed a four-year deal with the defender, who will join the club when his contract expires at Liverpool on June 30.
Konate announced that he would be leaving Anfield when his contract expires this summer after failing to reach an agreement on a new deal.
He joins Bernardo Silva and Marc Cucurella as Jose Mourinho’s first signings since returning for a second spell in charge at the Bernabeu.
Konate made 183 appearances for the Reds after signing from RB Leipzig in 2021, helping them lift the Premier League, FA Cup and two League Cups but now leaves for Spain after five-years at Anfield.
Real Madrid’s shift in transfer strategy under Jose
Jose Mourinho has made a fast start in the transfer window at Real Madrid despite the World Cup being under way, with the free transfers of Ibrahima Konate and Bernardo Silva following hot on the heels of Marc Cucurella’s £51.8m signing from Chelsea.
Real Madrid’s newly re-elected president Florentino Perez has also lined up the £17m signing of right-back Denzel Dumfries from Inter.
The signings of Silva, 31, Cucurella, 27, Dumfries, 30, and Konate, 27, show there has been a clear change of transfer strategy. The focus has shifted from young players with promise to experienced players who are ready to be thrown straight in.
Cucurella, for instance, is the first signing over 25 to have arrived at Real Madrid for a transfer fee of more than £2m since the summer of 2019, when Eden Hazard was signed from Chelsea in a deal worth well in excess of £100m.
