Five days after beating Crystal Palace FC to secure UEFA Champions League qualification, on 28 May 2021 to be precise, an announcement was made on liverpoolfc.com.

‘Liverpool Football Club have reached an agreement for the transfer of Ibrahima Konaté from RB Leipzig. The 22-year-old defender has agreed a long-term contract with the Reds from July 1, subject to international clearance and a successful work permit application process, after finalising terms and passing a medical.’

Due to an unprecedented injury crisis the Reds had ended the seasons of Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, Joël Matip plus the on-loan Ozan Kabak prematurely, the 2020/21 campaign concluded with Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams at centre-back. Midfielders Jordan Henderson and Fabinho were amongst the others to have filled in there.

So to read that Jürgen Klopp had already managed to acquire the additional centre-back that Liverpool FC required over a month before the transfer window opened - and a defender who happened to be a highly-regarded French U21 international - was music to the ears of Kopites.

Many Reds celebrated the news on social media and all of a sudden, Konaté gained thousands more followers. At 1.52pm that afternoon he used Twitter (now X) to address his new supporters.

Using an anime GIF plus #YNWA instead of words was a different way of saying hello to the Liverpool FC family. To some it was cryptic, to others it was confusing, but for the many followers of the Japanese-produced animation it resonated and it was the start of things to come. Over the last two-and-half years Konaté has regularly used anime and manga to express his feelings on social media.

“It is something that I grew up with from a very young age,” says the 24-year-old who was raised in Paris’s 11th arrondissement. “Almost from the moment I was born I was interested in manga and anime, I got interested in them through my big brothers.

“On Twitter the majority of footballers write their messages, but I prefer to write with images. There are bits and pieces that people see that I post on social media, but also aspects of manga that people don’t know about in terms of me. It deals with general aspirations in life and what you want in life more generally than just in sport. That’s something which is really important for me as well.”

Cult series Dragon Ball Z is a particular favourite of Konaté’s when expressing his emotions and the hugely-popular defender even used to sketch cartoons himself, so why does Ibou - who was given that nickname by his mother Yara - view anime and manga as being so important?

“Sometimes you will be in some situations in your life and you will think about the manga,” he says. “This can help you a lot before a game. I like to watch some highlights of manga and sometimes this boosts me before the game, but people don’t know that this can help me a lot in some part of my life, you know?

“Some Liverpool fans understand what I post [on social media], some fans say ‘what are you posting this one for?’ It depends on what they understand [about magna] and this is fun [laughs]!”

If watching anime and manga is the secret behind Konaté’s success then long may he continue watching it as the French international centre-back is having a stellar season. He has already made more appearances than he did during an injury-disrupted 2022/23 campaign (24) and has been a rock at the back with a series of impressive displays, not least during the Reds’ 2-0 FA Cup 3rd round win at Arsenal FC last month.

Konaté was named as player-of-the-match after making a goal-saving block in the first half and two decisive second half interventions to deny the dangerous Gabriel Martinelli after he got into the space behind Trent Alexander-Arnold as the Gunners searched for a goal. Which brings us to that space behind Trent.

The nature of the inverted full-back role makes it inevitable, at times, that there will be space for opponents to run into on the counter-attack if Liverpool FC lose possession high up the pitch. It’s a system of risk and reward and the fact that the Reds are top of the table at the time of writing and still in contention in all three cup competitions suggest the rewards are worth the risks, but it only works if you’ve got good centre-backs who are able to deal with those counter-attacks. Good centre-backs like Ibou Konaté.

“It has given me more responsibility for sure,” he says. “I think the fact that Trent tries to get forward more into midfield means he has got a double role, really. He has to defend and he has to attack so I find myself with more responsibility defensively.

“My defensive role is more vital because I’m having to defend more space and I might have more opponents coming into that space I’ve got to defend against, but the good thing about it is that it is giving me much more experience and more confidence.

“When I go away with the national team now I play in a full-back system that is more traditional. The full-back stays deeper so for France it is almost easier to play because the experience I am getting with Liverpool is so good.”

Should Liverpool FC go on to lift silverware this season then you can expect to see it celebrated on Ibou’s social media challenges in the form of Japanese popular culture and going on to lift silverware in Klopp’s farwell season is at the forefront of Konaté’s mind.

“When the manager said he was leaving, in my mind I was like, ‘In the last four months, I have to give my life for him now’. But of course, where you are in February means nothing. You can only start talking about what has been won at the end of the season, but the minimum we ask is that we fight it out for the league title.

“We have a lot of games and we did it [challenged for silverware] two years ago, but we won only two trophies. I hope this season will be different and I cross my fingers for that.”

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