RB Leipzig have reportedly told Liverpool what they need to do to sign defender | OneFootball

RB Leipzig have reportedly told Liverpool that they need to pay Ibrahima Konate’s release clause in full instead of in a series of installments over a period of time.

According to The Times, Liverpool have hit a stumbling block in their pursuit to land Konate as they were hoping to pay his release clause over several payments instead of just one.

The report claims this could cause the deal to drag out slightly, which means that Liverpool will not officially complete the signing in the immediate future.

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ANFIELD WATCH VERDICT

Last summer, Liverpool agreed a deal with Wolves to sign Diogo Jota for a fee of up to £45m. However, the Reds only paid £4m of that upon signing him, with another £1m in December and are set to pay £12m to Wolves this summer, with the fee spread out over the course of Jota’s Liverpool contract in order to help the cash flows of both clubs. Leipzig do not seem to share the same ambitions for this transfer deal and would like all of Konate’s release clause in one go from Liverpool.

Konate is Leipzig’s player and the release clause is part of a contract they have been paying for, which means that they are well within their right to have told the Reds what they need to do. Liverpool will now need to decide whether or not they are able to fulfill Leipzig’s wishes or if they will need to move on to other targets. The Athletic’s James Pearce claimed earlier this week that Liverpool are set to trigger his release clause at the end of the season, but that was before this latest update came out.

This means that Liverpool may wait until the end of the season before weighing up what they want to do with Konate’s release clause. They could have negotiations with Leipzig in an attempt to change their mind in order to spread the deal out over several years, or they could cave in to what the Bundesliga club have told them to do and pay the entire sum at once.