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Liverpool are one of three English sides chasing Ibrahima Konate, according to reports.

What's the story?

Well, Euro United, via Sport Witness, claim that Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool are all vying to sign the young defender.

The 19 year-old had a fantastic breakout season with Red Bull Leipzig, racking up 42 appearances in all competitions with three goals.

The report from Sport Witness suggests the Bundesliga outfit would like to hang on to Konate for another season, so we could well see the Reds make a move and then loan him back for a campaign, as they did with Divock Origi back in 2014.

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Mini Matip?

A swoop for Konate would be yet more smart business from Liverpool. Since Michael Edwards and Jurgen Klopp arrived at the club, the pair have carefully hand-picked every single transfer target, and they are usually young, physically dominant and comfortable on the ball.

Konate ticks all of these boxes, and may even remind the Anfield crowd of a certain Joel Matip, as the teenager loves to roam forward from defence with the ball at his feet.

Of course, Konate is not going to walk in and dislodge any of the current centre back options on offer to Klopp, but the 19 year-old has more than held his own in the Bundesliga, and could easily become third-choice behind Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez before too long.

He had one of his finest performances of the season in a recent 0-0 draw against Bayern Munich, winning two tackles and making six clearances, while counterpart Robert Lewandowski managed just one shot and a horrific 64% pass completion rate, per Whoscored.

Excellent recent transfer business has transformed Liverpool, and snatching Konate from the grasps of two of their “big six” rivals but would be a fine way to kick off the summer.