"Will be very important for the club's future" - Martin Skrtel heaps praises on Liverpool star

Liverpool great Martin Skrtel has expressed his admiration for Reds defender Ibrahima Konate, who the Slovak feels will be important for the club's future.

Konate joined the Premier League giants from German club RB Leipzig for £36 million in 2021. He has since made 43 appearances across competitions for the team, contributing towards four goals.

Although injuries have hindered his progress, the defender has been impressive for Liverpool whenever he has featured. He notably helped the club win both the EFL Cup and FA Cup in his debut season.

At just 23 years of age, Konate is expected to be a key player for the Reds in the years to come. The central defender also has seven national team appearances for France under his belt.

Having been impressed by Konate, Skrtel has tipped the Frenchman to be an integral part of Liverpool's team for a significant amount of time. The former Anfield favorite also revealed that he was happy when the Merseyside-based club opted to sign the Parisian instead of Dayot Upamecano from Leipzig.

“When I was playing in Turkey a few years ago, we played against Leipzig and at the time, everyone was talking about this guy [Dayot] Upamecano," Skrtel told The Athletic. "I told my friend, ‘The other centre-back Leipzig have got is even better’."

"I was so happy when Liverpool signed him. Konate is such a good player. He’s strong physically and he seems strong mentally too, and he’s good with the ball. He’s still young and will be very important for the club’s future.”

Konate has been restricted to just 1180 minutes of action for the Reds this season, with injuries considerably limiting his involvement.

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Martin Skrtel names defender he would like Liverpool to sign

Joel Matip is on the wrong side of 30, while Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez have struggled for form this season. All that, coupled with Konate's injury struggles, has led to suggestions that Jurgen Klopp's side could be in the market for a new central defender this summer.

Asked who he would like to see the Anfield outfit recruit, Skrtel named Inter Milan's Milan Skriniar as his pick. However, the retired defender is aware that his compatriot is likely on his way to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) for free, saying:

"If you asked me to pick one other excellent centre-back, it would be Milan Skriniar, the Slovakian. Unfortunately, he’s not available as he’s already agreed to move from Inter to PSG but he would be great for Liverpool if he was available.”

With Skriniar seemingly unavailable, it remains to be seen who the English giants will target.