Ibrahima Konate was called up to the French senior international squad for the first time yesterday. Les Bleus manager Didier Deschamps added the Liverpool man to his camp in place of Manchester United’s Raphael Varane, who was withdrawn through injury.
Konate will be available for France’s remaining three UEFA Nations League fixtures this month.
The defender has already represented his country at various youth levels and boasts 13 caps for the U21 team.
𝙆𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚́ 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙑𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙚
Raphaël Varane (douleur musculaire à la cuisse gauche) ne pourra pas participer aux 3 prochains matchs des Bleus. Didier Deschamps le remplace par Ibrahima Konaté ! #FiersdetreBleus pic.twitter.com/eNRxkRtONn
— Equipe de France ⭐⭐ (@equipedefrance) June 4, 2022
The 23-year-old has enjoyed an impressive first season on Merseyside after arriving from RB Leipzig for £36 million last year.
Konate scored 3 goals and kept 10 clean sheets across 29 appearances for Jurgen Klopp’s side this term, also starting in the UEFA Champions League final in his hometown of Paris alongside Virgil Van Dijk.
Deschamps had originally excluded ‘Ibou’ from his latest squad in favour of William Saliba, preferring the latter’s familiarity with a back three. The World Cup winning boss explained his decision in a press conference last month –
“I brought William last time and he always plays in a back three. It’s either one or the other. It’s very competitive and that’s very good. It allows for the veterans to not get too comfortable.”
France face Croatia tonight, before travelling to Austria, and then back to the Stade de France for the return leg versus Croatia next week.
Konate has now joined up with his countrymen and will hope to emulate his club form and hit the ground running.
An ecstatic @IbrahimaKonate_ describes when he discovered he'd been called up, and how Les Bleus welcomed the @LFC defender 🤗#FiersdetreBleus pic.twitter.com/LLzkviY7qP
— French Team ⭐⭐ (@FrenchTeam) June 5, 2022