Forget Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate will ‘take over’ the Liverpool defence with Joe Gomez, claims legend John Barnes
LIVERPOOL centre-back Ibrahima Konate has been backed by John Barnes to 'take over' the defence from Virgil van Dijk in the future.
The 22-year-old has been limited to just seven Premier League games this season after making the move to Anfield last summer in a £36million deal from RB Leipzig.
But he has impressed in his outings, with the France youth international notably starring in the 5-0 away win against Manchester United in October.
His most recent game came in the 2-0 win over Arsenal at the Emirates to seal Liverpool's spot in the Carabao Cup final.
But chances in the Premier League have been hard to come by, with boss Jurgen Klopp preferring the pairing of Van Dijk and Joel Matip in the heart of defence.
Their formidable partnership has seen Joe Gomez fail to start a top-flight match, with the ex-Charlton ace restricted to four cameo appearances.
But Reds icon Barnes believe both Konate and Gomez still have a huge role to play in Merseyside.
He told BonusCodeBets: "Ibrahima Konate is a player for the future and one who will eventually take over this defence.
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"It will take Ibrahima some time to bed himself into this team, similarly to Fabinho when he first arrived at the club.
"The fact that Joel is doing so well and playing regularly doesn’t necessarily spell the end for the likes of Joe Gomez at Anfield either.
"If you look at the age of the other central defenders, Ibrahima Konate aside, Gomez is one of the youngest.
"Joe [Gomez] is a fantastic player and an England international, I’m sure Liverpool would love to keep him too."
Highlighting Van Dijk's influence on Liverpool's defenders, Barnes added: "All of Liverpool’s defenders are good players, you can see that whenever they are playing alongside Virgil Van Dijk.
"Everyone could see Joe Gomez’s improvement when he played with Van Dijk.
"Playing alongside Virgil, Liverpool’s defenders show what they are really capable of, and so seeing how well Joel Matip has done this year hasn’t been surprising at all."