Ibrahima Konate has named himself as a candidate to take the captains armband from Kylian Mbappe for the French national team.
The Liverpool defender has been in fine form so far this season and been a major factor in his side's early season success, where nine wins from 10 games in all competitions have left Arne Slot's side at the top of the Premier League and going strong in the Champions League and Carabao Cup .
Konate's efforts at the back have also awarded the Reds with six clean sheets in that time, while he even got himself on the scoresheet in consecutive away games against AC Milan and Wolves last month with two bullet headers.
Now, the 25-year-old is looking to make the same strides on the international stage with France, whom he has 17 caps for since making his senior debut in 2022. After failing to play a single minute for Les Bleus in its run to the semi-finals of Euro 2024 , Konate played the full 90 minutes in its first game back against Italy last month.
He was dropped for the following game against Belgium but has once again been called up to the squad for this month's Nations League fixtures against the Red Devils and Israel, and has thrown his hat into the ring for the national team captaincy after Kylian Mbappe withdrew through injury.
“Being a leader is something that is innate. You either have it or you don’t,” Konaté said in a press conference, as per Get French Football News . “You have to be someone that everyone likes. A leader has to be there especially when things aren’t going well.
"It’s like the foundations of a house; he holds up the group so that everything can go well. Some players have the profile. I have two or three names: Mike (Maignan), myself, Jules (Koundé) and Aurél(ien Tchouaméni). Those are the only names that come to mind."
The Liverpool center-back is certainly not short of confidence and it's easy to see why given he's had such an impressive start to the 2024-25 campaign at club level. Not only did he replace Jarell Quansah at half-time of the opening weekend victory over Ipswich , but he's maintained his place magnificently since.
With Atletico Madrid striker Antoine Griezmann also recently announcing his retirement from international football, France is also in need of a vice-captain for this current international break. Whoever inherits the armband for this month's fixtures is likely to be that person one Mbappe is back from injury.
Konate will be hoping to grab one of those two roles this week and has been handed a major boost in doing so following the recent injury to Bayern Munich's Dayot Upamecano, who replaced the 25-year-old in the starting XI for last month's 2-0 victory over Belgium.
Without him in the squad, Konate is presented with a great chance to start both games this time around, and therefore put himself in contention for the armband. However, he will face competition from Chelsea's Wesley Fofana and Sevilla's Loic Bade, who is a reported transfer target for Liverpool.
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