3 hours ago
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Confirmed
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On Thursday, Real Madrid confirmed the signing of Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konaté on a free transfer for the 2026/27 season. The France international had been widely expected to swap Anfield for the Spanish capital due to his expiring contract, and as such, his announced four-year deal with “Los Blancos” would have come as no great surprise to Liverpool or Madrid fans. Konaté made the move to Liverpool in 2021 when he signed from RB Leipzig for €40 million.
Konaté makes the move to Real Madrid after featuring in 183 games for Liverpool, where he won two English League Cups, one FA Cup and the all-important Premier League title in 2025. Along the way, the central defender’s market value rose steadily from €30m upon his arrival at the club to a career high of €60m in early 2025. Due to his expiring contract and some tepid performances for Liverpool in the past season, Konaté’s market value has since fallen to €45m. But that’s still a significant number for Madrid.
Indeed, despite joining the club on a free transfer, Konaté makes the move to Madrid as the club’s third most valuable free transfer of all time. The French defender’s current market value puts him ahead of Antonio Rüdiger, who had a market value of €40m when he joined on a free transfer from Chelsea in 2022. But, to no great surprise, Konaté sits below David Alaba, whose market value stood at €55m when he joined from Bayern Munich in 2021 and well behind Kylian Mbappé, who made a free transfer to the club from Paris Saint-Germain in 2024, when his market value stood at an impressive €180m.
Of course, Konaté isn’t the only valuable player making a free transfer to Madrid this summer. The defender will be joined by Bernardo Silva, who ranks fifth in this specific ranking with a market value of €22m despite being out of contract this summer. That, remarkably, means that the Spanish giants have signed up an impressive €342m worth of talent in the last four years without paying a single penny in transfer fees.
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