Ibrahima Konate interview: 'I want to level up and be a big part of this club'
Ibrahima Konate is aiming to 'level up' his performances on the pitch in his third season as a Liverpool player.
The centre-half has become a fan favourite ever since arriving from RB Leipzig in 2021, making 53 appearances in all competitions and lifting the Emirates FA Cup, Carabao Cup and FA Community Shield.
Entering 2023-24, however, Konate is looking to set a new benchmark for himself and use this pre-season to build a strong platform to help fulfil his aims.
The France international told Liverpoolfc.com: "I'm very happy to be here and I want to win a lot of trophies with this club because it's an amazing club with big history.
"I want to be a big part of this club and win a lot of trophies with this club.
"I think this season, the third season, I have to level up and show another personality of me on the pitch and in life as well.
"I have a lot of objectives – a lot of clean sheets, help my team, score some goals and win some trophies."
The hybrid role Trent Alexander-Arnold took up towards the end of the previous campaign forced a change to Konate's responsibilities in the Reds' backline.
By shifting over to vacated space on the right channel when in possession, the 24-year-old considers it a learning experience making him a more well-rounded defender.
"Yes, maybe [it] made me a better player because I have to do more, because I have more space to defend," he said.
"But I have a nice team to help me do this and this season let's see what will happen."
Konate was speaking directly after Liverpool's second session of their training camp in Baden-Württemberg.
He continued: "I'm very happy to be here in Germany. I know this country already and the weather is much better than Liverpool at the moment!
"The team is happy. I'm very happy to be back after the holiday – it was short but I am very happy to see the players, the staff, everyone from Liverpool. We're ready to train hard.
"It's very intense but we have to do this, we have to do a lot of sacrifice because we have to show a lot of things this season."
Among the 32 players in Germany with the Reds are summer arrivals Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai.
Konate is delighted to be reunited with the latter, having been a teammate of his for half a season at Leipzig.
"I'm very happy for him and now I think he understands it's a very, very big club," the No.5 finished. "I think his life changed just when he signed for Liverpool. I'm happy for him to be here."