Liverpool drop interest in 20-year-old League One defender as club demands £5million

Ezri Konsa is set to stay at Charlton for the rest of the reason, with both Liverpool and Everton not ready to match the League One Club’s £5million valuation of the young defender. Both Liverpool and Everton have scouted the Charlton Athletic defender extensively but it appears that they won’t be signing him before next week’s transfer deadline, report the Daily Mail.

Konsa has built up a high reputation in the lower division after dishing out some impressive performances for Charlton this season. The 20-year-old has already amassed close to 70 senior appearances for the League One club and there are hardly any surprises in seeing him be tracked by some of Premier League’s top clubs.

Given that he has really done well in his time with the Addicks, Konsa’s best position is as a central defender but out of the 23 times he has played this season, he’s largely featured at the right-back position. Konsa, who came through the Charlton youth academy, is under contract until June 2020.

The report adds that the £6,000-a-week deal he signed in March last year makes the defender one of the top earners at the League One club. Liverpool are understood to be top runners for Konsa’s signature but face competition from bitter Merseyside rivals Everton.

However, Charlton manager Karl Robinson told yesterday that there have been no bids for the highly-rated centre-back.

“There are going to be a number of people chasing him,” Robinson was quoted by Evening Standard.

“The last five games he has been outstanding. There are going to be a lot of people circling around him. He is young, he is English and he has an amazing future ahead of him but we have had no bids for him.”

Charlton are in the midst of takeover talks and owner Roland Duchatelet might look to cash in on his prized asset to generate some funds to help the manager in pushing for promotion.

But Robinson is in no rush to get some deals done in the transfer window, with just a few days left for it to shut down. However, he admitted that buying a defender would become a priority if Konsa was sold this month.

“The longer it goes, the harder it will be. We have got ourselves in a bit of a pickle,” added Robinson

It certainly seems like Charlton are assured that Konsa is staying put at the club this season. Well, that doesn’t guarantee if the defender stays beyond this current campaign but for now, the club appears to be relaxed. Looks like we’ve to wait until the summer to sign the promising youngster if we do change our mind and Charlton decide to drop the asking price.