Ex-Liverpool star admits he’d have preferred Manchester United signing over Konate | OneFootball

Glen Johnson has admitted that he’d have preferred if his former club had brought in newly signed Manchester United star Raphael Varane over Ibrahima Konate.

The Red Devils secured their second summer signing for an initial £34m, £2m less than the amount the Merseysiders secured the Frenchman from RB Leipzig for.

“Yes. Mainly because I haven’t seen Konaté play too much to be honest and don’t know too much about him,” the former Reds star told BettingOdds.com. “But if Konaté is as good or better than Varane I’d be surprised.”

The 22-year-old has impressed in pre-season alongside Joel Matip, during the absence of first-choice duo Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk, potentially pointing to the defender playing a role in the opening clash of the season against Norwich City.

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It’s worth bearing in mind that at 22-years-old, Varane is six years the Liverpool star’s senior, and was available with a year to go left on his contract at Real Madrid.

Given we purchased a player considered to have a higher ceiling than Bayern Munich star (and former centre-back partner) Dayot Upamecano, it’s a shrewd deal on our part.

United have signed more of a finished product, which they are more in need of, while we’re safeguarding the future of a backline that already contains two world-class options in Gomez and Van Dijk.

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