Huge lift for Liverpool as duo join Konate for pre-season training camp
Long-term injured defenders Virgil Van Dijk and Joe Gomez plus new signing Ibrahima Konate will all kick-off pre-season at Liverpool’s training camp in Austria on Monday.
Van Dijk and Gomez have not played since October and November respectively after sustaining serious knee injuries but will join up with a 34-man squad – missing players who were, or still are, involved in Euro 2020 and the Copa America – at their base in the state of Tyrol.
Konate will meet his new Reds team-mates for the first time following his £36million move from RB Leipzig.
Right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, who had to pull out of England’s Euro 2020 squad on the eve of the tournament with a thigh muscle tear, is also in the squad along with 11 academy players.
“We look forward to going to Austria again for the start of our pre-season. All the conditions to prepare the team there are just at a very high level,” assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders told liverpoolfc.com.
“We will use this to go back to basics. When you ask a lot from your players you have to give a lot as well. We find all of this in Austria.”
The Man Utd man earmarked for a call-up to a country known more for baseball
Liverpool backtracking after learning Traore fee
Meanwhile, Liverpool have learned that they will have to offer a lot more after telling Wolves what they would pay for Adama Traore, according to a report.
The two clubs may have a Premier League rivalry on the pitch, but they have a strong working relationship off it. Last summer, the Reds agreed a flexible deal for Diogo Jota, before Ki-Jana Hoever went the other way. Both clubs have benefitted from the arrangement, but they could strike another deal this summer.
Wolves winger Traore has seen his value decrease over the past year following his – and his club’s – drop-off in form.
While Liverpool have had transfer links before, his fee has put the Anfield club off. Nevertheless, amid his downturn in value, reports claim that the Reds have rekindled interest.
According to a fresh report from Football Insider, Liverpool have followed up their new interest by testing the water over a potential offer.
They have told Wolves that they would pay at least £20million and a maximum of £25million for the Spain international.
However, the Molineux club have responded by insisting that they want £50million.
That is despite Traore’s value dropping from its previous mark of £70million.
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