Free agents, by far, have been Real Madrid’s most preferred means of doing business in recent years as is exemplified in the team’s signing of Antonio Rudiger, Kylian Mbappe and even David Alaba.

With the centre-back position clearly in need of new signings, the club were linked with a plethora of top defenders who were near the end of their contract over the past year. Dayot Upamecano, Marc Guehi and Ibrahima Konate were some of the names linked.

Of all the candidates who appeared available, only one remains now and it is none other than Konate. The player is set to leave Liverpool as a free agent, but Real Madrid’s interest in the player also seemingly died down owing to his poor form.

Not ruled out

L’Equipe, in a recent update, confirm that Real Madrid have not ruled out Konate as an option and do see him as a market opportunity. However, they wish to check his details before coming to a final decision.

They will thus go through the defender’s demands and see if they can comply with them, and will even proceed to re-enter the race for him if the boxes check out.

The likely factors that will be checked will include the signing-on bonus he demands, the space he will occupy on the wage bill and his demands for guaranteed playing time among others. Real Madrid, after all, maintain strict limits on the aforementioned criteria.

Competitors in the race

The French outlet further elaborates that Real Madrid and Bayern Munich have maintained contact with Konate for a long time now, and are thus the two sides seemingly ahead in the race to sign him.

Chelsea and former Real Madrid manager Xabi Alonso, however, are also keeping eyes on him as a signing for Stamford Bridge and it remains to be seen how serious they turn out to be in his pursuit.

In any case, his future is not expected to be sorted before the FIFA World Cup and his performance at the event will be a major factor in whether or not Real Madrid make the push for him or not.