“He deserves it”- Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp praises 23-year-old star after inclusion in World Cup squad

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp spoke about Ibrahima Konate and inclusion in France’s World Cup squad

Prior to Didier Deschamps’ announcement of France’s squad for the World Cup later this month, there was a lot of speculation over Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate and his inclusion in the same.

The 23-year-old saw himself out of a major portion of the season in the initial weeks due to a knee injury. Hence, his being a part of France’s World Cup squad was hanging in balance. However, his recovery and impressive performance ensured that he will board the flight to Qatar.

All four

of his appearances this season have come against in-form opponents and Konate was highly crucial in each of those games. Especially against Spurs at Tottenham Hotspur stadium, Konate was highly efficient against the likes of Harry Kane and co.

Speaking of his inclusion in the France squad, who would hope to defend their title, here is what Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp had to say via Liverpool Echo on Konate’s quality:

“Very good but he was really good before. An outstanding player in Germany. Other players were unlucky. He was not lucky as he came back in time. Not his season so far with being out a long time but it’s worked well. He deserves it.”

In total, Konate has 33 appearances for the Reds across all competitions and this is his second season running with the club. The Frenchman was extremely good for RB Leipzig as well and his national team manager also praised him, saying

it is not an accident that Konate is playing week-in and week-out for a European champion team like the Reds.

Konate back to optimum fitness

Of course, in a race against time, Konate had all the pressure in the world on his shoulders for him to have made the cut and join his compatriots. Konate has shown amazing mental strength and the ability to come out of a tough situation and perform so well.

Liverpool play one more fixture before the league shuts for the World Cup and Konate would hope to play against Southampton to get some game time before flying out to France.

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France would be eager to defend their title of World Champions and hopefully, his manager trusts Konate enough to start him against some of the best teams in the event later this month.