Liverpool could benefit from shock William Saliba decision

International football is very often treated with a sense of horror by Liverpool supporters given the tendency for their players to return from representing their country in a somewhat less than ideal state.

But national team duty can occasionally be of benefit, particularly for those who have somewhat lost their way at Anfield.

Such is the potential case for Ibrahima Konate, with eyebrows having been raised at the Liverpool defender being poised to be part of a first-choice centre-back pairing for France at the European Championships alongside his former RB Leipzig team-mate Dayot Upamecano, now of Bayern Munich.

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Konate featured in the 3-0 warm-up victory against Luxembourg last Wednesday but was rested for France's final friendly ahead of the tournament last Sunday against Canada, with Arsenal's William Saliba instead selected.

Reports in France, though, indicate that while Saliba did little wrong in an admittedly disappointing goalless draw, Konate is now almost certain to be recalled for his country's opening Group D game against Austria on Monday.

Konate, of course, is no stranger to international tournaments with France, having started three of seven games at the last World Cup in Qatar and emerged from the bench in the final defeat to Argentina in December 2022.

And his situation at club level now is not too dissimilar to when the 25-year-old went into those finals, injury problems meaning he had started just four games for Liverpool during the first part of the 2022/23 campaign.

While fitness issues have once again contributed to Konate's most recent season, he actually only missed seven games through injury and just three since December. The latter absence came after injuring his thigh in the 6-1 Europa League romp at Sparta Prague in March that forced him out of the return leg and, more importantly, key Premier League and FA Cup clashes against Manchester City and United respectively.

Stepping in after Joel Matip's season-ending knee injury, Konate had started 10 of the previous 13 top-flight matches, a spell during which he served a one-match suspension following his red card at Arsenal. But when he returned after the March international break, Konate began only three of the remaining nine Premier League matches and none of the last four. Indeed, he didn't play another minute of the campaign after being hauled off midway through the second half following a dire performance in the Merseyside derby defeat at Everton.

Having for so long been considered Virgil van Dijk's chief partner at centre-back, Konate ended the season behind 21-year-old Jarell Quansah, the youngster having had his senior breakthrough at the start of the season accelerated partly due to the Frenchman being missing through injury.

With France, who also face Holland and Poland in their Euros group, expected to go far in the tournament, there should be scope for Konate to rebuild any dented confidence. And he will be aware matters turned for him at Liverpool after the World Cup two years ago. While there was soon another injury absence of five weeks, the defender ultimately regained his place and started 13 of the final 15 Premier League matches, a spell during which the Reds lost only twice.

Given the ongoing development of Quansah and the likely arrival of a new centre-back at Anfield this summer, Konate will want to build momentum to ensure he can hit the ground running with Liverpool next season.