Ibrahima Konate will spend the international break recovering from injury, with the Liverpool centre-back forced to pull out of the France squad this month.
Konate was a surprise absentee when the Reds’ teamsheet was announced ahead of Sunday’s clash with Brentford, having been expected to start.
It was later reported that Liverpool were taking caution with the No. 5 due to a minor fitness issue, as was the case with Joe Gomez.
The French Football Federation have now revealed, though, that Konate has been replaced in Didier Deschamps’ squad for upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers against Gibraltar (Nov 18) and Greece (Nov 21).
In a statement confirming the call-up of Chelsea defender Axel Disasi, the FFF explained that Konate suffered a “small muscle injury to his left hamstring.”
That occurred during the warmup for Liverpool’s 3-2 defeat to Toulouse in midweek, with the 24-year-old “requiring approximately two weeks of treatment.”
If Konate is due to return within two weeks, the likelihood is that he can make the squad for the trip to Man City on November 25.
However, the timing of this issue is certainly convenient, particularly given Jurgen Klopp‘s lighthearted criticism of the centre-back’s workload with France last month.
“I love absolutely everything about Ibou, but the problem is Ibou had injury problems from time to time and Mr Deschamps played him 90 and 87 minutes in the two games,” he told RMC Sport following the October break.
After leaving his No. 5 out of the home clash with Toulouse, Klopp added: “I spoke to Ibou and told him, ‘tell Mr Deschamps that’s how you rest a player’.
“Not three minutes, no, the full 90.”
It should be noted that there was a difference of opinion over Konate’s fitness between Liverpool and France during the September break, too.
Despite being sidelined with a muscle injury, the Parisian was called up to Deschamps’ squad, only to later pull out.