Liverpool centre-back Ibrahima Konate made his first appearance for the club as he played 30 minutes in the 1-1 draw against Stuttgart yesterday evening.
Supporters on Twitter were keenly anticipating seeing the defender in action and they were not disappointed by what they saw of the 22-year-old:
Class debut, absolutely rapid
— Lewis (@Lewis4653) July 20, 2021
better than maguire
— mayhem anti-estado (@punk_ancap) July 20, 2021
Solid game from his debut ??
— Samuel (@SamueILFC) July 20, 2021
Ibou what a player he is xx
— Michelle? (@mishybabez_) July 20, 2021
Unit.
— Blow (@_Blow15) July 20, 2021
claaaass
— asma.?? (@swiftssirens) July 20, 2021
Tank
— ً (@CalvesLikeShaq) July 20, 2021
His heat map from today pic.twitter.com/lGPIC9eAbL
— Inder (@inderghandial) July 20, 2021
Solid debut. Looks so good on the ball as well
— callum (@Callum___Moran) July 20, 2021
It is very early days to be making any definitive judgements on Konate but, as some fans pointed out, he does look to have a good deal of pace, which will hold him in good stead when he plays competitive games in the Premier League.
With that in mind, you would expect either the Frenchman or Joe Gomez to be Virgil van Dijk’s partner at the back as their games would seem to complement each other pretty well.
The irony is that, after last season’s injury problems, manager Jurgen Klopp now has a wealth of centre-back options at his disposal, with the likes of Joel Matip and Ben Davies also being given runouts last night.
