'I managed Manchester United but Liverpool star is the best signing I have ever made'

As Manchester United prepares to hand over from an interim manager to a permanent appointment, a former temporary boss of the Red Devils has been very complementary about a Liverpool player. You wouldn’t get that from Ruud van Nistelrooy.

The Dutchman’s predecessor in question is Ralf Rangnick, who shepherded United through the second half of the 2021/22 season. He oversaw a 4-0 loss at Anfield during that period, a match for which Ibrahima Konate – the man Rangnick has recently praised – was on the bench.

The Liverpool defender was signed by RB Leipzig on a free transfer when his contract expired at Sochaux in 2017. Rangnick was the German club’s sporting director at that time and recently spoke to Canal+ about Konate being “one of the best signings” he made for the club.

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The coach of Austria’s national team was talking to Liverpool's number five via a video message “I remember very well the day our scouting department in Leipzig showed clips from your Sochaux days. I instantly fell in love with your game,“ Rangnick said.

“I saw straight away you were an amazing person and player with a top-class upbringing. All of the latter proved true. You are without doubt the best signing, or one of the best signings, we did at Leipzig in the last 12 years,” he added.

Konate reciprocated the kind words after seeing the video. “He’s an extremely important person to me,” he said.

The French international spent four years with Leipzig. In that time, he made 95 appearances for the club, gaining his first experience of a top league and Champions League football. His performances earned Konate a move to Liverpool in 2021 for a fee of $46m (£36m/€44m).

There have been ups and downs since. The 25-yar-old has won three domestic cups with the Reds and started a Champions League final. Injuries have restricted Konate to fewer appearances than he obviously would have liked though. His form suffered a dip towards the end of last season too, which did at least enable Jarell Quansah to accumulate valuable experience at senior level.

With his performance level arguably reaching new heights in 2024/25, Konate has been one of the best players in the Premier League. His partnership with Virgil van Dijk has enabled the Reds to concede just six goals across their first 11 league games. It is little wonder Rangnick spoke so fondly of a player the Liverpool fans support with chants of ‘Ibou’ whenever he snuffs out another opposition attack.