Ibrahima Konate says he is inspired to win trophies for “unbelievable” Mohamed Salah and tipped his Liverpool team-mate to win the Ballon d’Or.
The Egyptian forward, 32, is currently enjoying the best season of his illustrious career, resigstering 21 goals and 17 assists in 29 appearances for the Premier League title chasers.
Salah has previously never finished higher than fifth in the Ballon d’Or standings, and Konate is determined to help Liverpool win as many trophies as possible to ensure he finally wins the award.
“Everything he has done since the start of the season, even since he’s played for Liverpool – it’s crazy what he’s done,” defender Konate said.
“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.”
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Konate on Van Dijk: ‘What a defender’
Konate also reserved praise for centre-back partner and Reds captain Virgil van Dijk, admitting he was not aware of the Dutch defender’s ability before he arrived at Anfield.
“What a defender,” he smiles again. “When I was in Leipzig and I watched some Liverpool games, I didn’t realise how good he was.
“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.”
Slot vs Klopp
The duo’s defensive chemistry has gone up another level since manager Arne Slot succeeded Jurgen Klopp in Merseyside, with only Arsenal bettering the Reds’ defensive record this season.
Konate believes Slot has brought a new level of control and explained the differences between how the backline functions this term compared to their years under his German predecessor.
He added: “[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.
“Nobody was expecting the manager to do what he has done since the start of the season. 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.”
