Hugo Ekitike Urges Ibrahima Konate to Sign Contract at Liverpool
Hugo Ekitike has stepped into Liverpool’s contract saga with a simple, pointed message for Ibrahima Konate: sign.
The striker, sidelined with a serious Achilles injury and ruled out of the World Cup, took to Instagram after news emerged that Konate is now expected to leave Anfield on a free transfer this summer following the collapse of contract talks.
Konate had posted a picture of himself arriving for France duty ahead of the tournament, a moment that should have underlined his rise for club and country. Instead, Liverpool supporters flooded the comments with pleas for him to stay. Among the noise, one message stood out — and Ekitike made sure it landed.
Replying to a fan urging Konate to commit his future to Liverpool, Ekitike wrote: “signe frere” followed by two laughing emojis. In English: “sign, brother.”
It was light-hearted, but it cut through. A dressing-room voice, even from the treatment table, publicly pushing a teammate towards a decision that many at Anfield still desperately want.
Only a few weeks earlier, Konate himself had sounded confident. Speaking at the Hill Dickinson Stadium after helping Liverpool beat Everton, the centre-back insisted a new deal was close.
“For sure, there is a big chance I’m here next season,” he said that day. “This is what I always wanted. I’m waiting to sort the contract, but when everything is sorted, you will have to ask Richard (Hughes) what I said to him in September, November and he’s going to say something to make everyone quiet.
“When everything's going to be sorted, I wish you had a discussion with Richard (Hughes) and asked what I said to him a few months ago, before everyone talked about everything. When he’s going to reply, you will see. I just wish that.”
Those words now hang in the air. The contract never arrived. The expectation, increasingly, is that Konate will walk away for nothing at the end of the season.
That possibility bites even harder when set against the role he believes he already holds inside the squad. With Arne Slot preparing for a summer of change and several big personalities moving on, Konate had spoken openly about embracing responsibility.
“I think I'm a leader already for this team, for the younger players, and for everyone to be fair,” he said. “We know this is part of the football life. The legends are going to leave one day and after, it's going to be our turn to take the lead. I started this already and it's a big responsibility.
“We start and we play football to have this kind of chance and to make sure everything is fine for this amazing club. But I need the help of everyone as well.”
Those are not the words of a man with one foot out of the door. Yet the market is circling. Signed from RB Leipzig in 2021, Konate has spent five years at Anfield and has developed into one of Europe’s most coveted defenders. On a free transfer, he will not lack offers. Real Madrid and PSG have already been linked.
Liverpool, then, stand at a familiar crossroads: a key player approaching his peak, a contract unresolved, heavyweight rivals waiting. Ekitike’s message might have been wrapped in emojis, but the question behind it is deadly serious.
Will “sign, brother” become a playful footnote, or the last public nudge before one of Liverpool’s modern pillars walks away for nothing?
