Liverpool told why Marc Guehi would be ‘upgrade’ amid Ibrahima Konate transfer advice

Samuel Bannister 20 Jul 2025 7:27 AM

Could Guehi replace Konate at Liverpool?

Marc Guehi has two key traits that would make him a stellar addition to the Liverpool defence and a potential upgrade on Ibrahima Konate, whose future may need to be assessed after his contract entered its final year, Emile Heskey has told TEAMtalk.

Liverpool have had a busy summer transfer window so far on the back of becoming Premier League champions. While their most expensive signing has been attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen, they have reinforced both full-back positions with the signings of Jeremie Frimpong (also from Leverkusen) and Milos Kerkez from Bournemouth.

One of the next areas Liverpool could consider strengthening is centre-back. Virgil van Dijk extended his contract until 2027 earlier this year, but Jarell Quansah has been sold to Leverkusen.

And with Konate now less than 12 months away from potentially leaving Liverpool on a free transfer, it’s as important as ever for the club to plan ahead in the position.

Guehi is a player they are known admirers of – and the fact he’s in the same boat contractually as Konate could equally work in their favour.

Ex-Liverpool striker Heskey believes Guehi ticks the boxes for Liverpool, pointing to his composure and ball-playing ability as reasons why he would slot in perfectly next to Van Dijk.

“I think he’s going to be an upgrade if he arrives,” Heskey exclusively told TEAMtalk, in association with BestBettingSites.co.uk. “He’s got the composure and ability to play out from the back, and he’ll be a great partner for Virgil van Dijk. Playing alongside Virgil will give him the chance to learn so much.

“I would love them to be playing together, but I’d also be happy to keep Ibrahima Konate, and have some rotation. I think it’s a bit of an upgrade though, without doubt.

“Can they do a deal for Guehi? We will have to wait and see, but Palace may want to cash in now because his contract expires in 12 months’ time.”

DON’T MISS ➡️ Ranking all Premier League clubs by transfer net spend in 2025: Liverpool four places above Man Utd…

Should Liverpool cash in on Konate?

Liverpool began the 2024-25 season in danger of losing Van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold on free transfers as the end of their contracts approached.

As it happened, that didn’t come to pass for any of the three. Van Dijk and Salah signed new deals, while although Alexander-Arnold did depart, Real Madrid paid a fee of £8.4m to complete the deal before the Club World Cup.

But it was still well under his market value, and after those close calls, Liverpool will be wary of Konate’s situation.

The Frenchman signed a five-year contract when he joined from RB Leipzig in 2021 and Liverpool now need to decide whether to sell him if he doesn’t agree a renewal.

Asked what advice he would offer Liverpool over Konate’s future, Heskey explained: “It’s an interesting question. Again, it all depends on what the actual player wants first and foremost because again, if the player is looking to go, it’d be good to sell him and get some money coming in.

“A lot of players are now starting to run their contracts down to judge what the future looks like at their current club, and to see if there are better options elsewhere.

“For Liverpool, they should probably go and see if they can get a transfer fee for him now to ensure a financial return. It all depends on what Konate wants, because he’s definitely got a role to play at Liverpool. Having said that, if they can get someone in now and get a decent offer for him, that’s something they need to consider.

“It’s becoming very important for clubs to cash in on players when there is a market opportunity, and that will be at the top of Liverpool’s minds, especially if there are any doubts about whether or not Konate is going to commit. In fairness to Liverpool, they don’t make many mistakes when it comes to buying and selling players.”