Ibrahima Konate has admitted he wants to help Mohamed Salah win the Ballon d’Or this season. The Liverpool forward has enjoyed a remarkable campaign to date, returning 21 goals and 17 assists from just 29 appearances.

Such form has helped the Reds build a four-point lead at the top of the Premier League table, while they are also on the cusp of qualifying for the Champions League round-of-16. Meanwhile, Arne Slot’s side are also in the League Cup semi-finals and FA Cup fourth round.

Salah is one of three high-profile players out of contract at Anfield at the end of the season, along with Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

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But while their futures have been the subject of intense scrutiny and speculation, it has shown little sign of distracting Liverpool on the pitch.

And if this is to be Salah’s last season at Anfield, Konate is determined to help the Egyptian go out on a high.

"Everything he has done since the start of the season, even since he's played for Liverpool - it's crazy what he's done," he told Sky Sports. "I really hope we will achieve great things this season.

“Because if he keeps going like this, I think at the end of the season he can win the Ballon d'Or. He will never say that because I think his objective is just to win big things with Liverpool.

“He doesn't really think about himself like, 'okay, I want to score more goals, I want to have more assists' - he just wants to win the game.

"He just wants to share his experience with the new players, young players. And for me, it's unbelievable to be a player like that at his age and to be so professional like that."

Konate returned to the heart of the Liverpool defence earlier this month after six weeks out with a knee injury, and instantly re-established his partnership with Van Dijk in the absence of the injured Joe Gomez.

The Frenchman admits he did not realise just how good his centre-back partner was until he made the move to Anfield in 2021. But now in his fourth season with the Reds, Konate wants the pair to be ‘the best partnership in the world’.

“What a defender. When I was in Leipzig and I watched some Liverpool games, I didn't realise how good he was,” he said. "And when I came here sometimes I would just think, no, how is this possible?

“He's too good. When I first came here, he gave me a lot of advice and he helped my adaptation.

"On the pitch now, how I need him, I think it's the same for him with me. We just work together and try to be the best partnership in the world.

“Some strikers see Virgil, and are just like 'okay, now I have no chance against him'. They don't give 100 per cent."

Meanwhile, Konate also revealed how new head coach Arne Slot has tweaked Liverpool’s defensive set-up to ensure they are no longer as exposed as they would be at times under Jurgen Klopp.

“Nobody was expecting the manager to do what he has done since the start of the season,” he admitted. “He has a great idea of playing, he knows what to do and it's not about adaptation to the other team. I think this makes a lot of difference for us compared to under Jurgen.

“[Trent Alexander-Arnold] helps a lot when we attack which leaves me with a big space to defend. But how the manager has explained to us to defend all together has helped me and the team a lot.

“If you can see and compare to the last season or the season before as well, we were more exposed.

“But now when we lose the ball, everyone tries to help the team and I think we are more together.”