The shirt number Ibrahima Konate could wear for Liverpool

Liverpool have made Ibrahima Konate their first signing of the summer as the Reds look to strengthen a defence that was ravaged by long-term injuries during the 2020/21 season.

Konate is only 22 years of age and has signed a long-term deal with Liverpool, with the club hopeful he will prove to be another home run swing in the transfer market.

Liverpool have not yet issued a shirt number to the France Under-21 international but fans will be keen to know as soon as possible and there are handful of potential options for him.

Konate’s first-team shirt at Leipzig for the past few years has been the number six, which is currently worn by Thiago Alcantara at Liverpool and therefore unavailable.

But perhaps the most obvious jersey for an incoming centre-back is the number five shirt being vacated by Dutch midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum, who will leave Anfield as a free agent this summer and is widely expected to join Barcelona.

The last centre-back to wear Liverpool’s number five shirt was Daniel Agger, while former England international Mark Wright wore it for much of the 1990s. Czech striker Milan Baros was another famous, if slightly odd, occupant of the jersey.

The alternative could be that the more senior Joe Gomez inherits the number five instead, leaving Gomez’s current 12 shirt open for Konate. In that sense, 16 could also available if Marko Grujic, who has played only 16 times for Liverpool since 2016 isn’t precious about keeping it. The upside of 16 is that it does contain a number six if that digit has become particularly important to Konate at Leipzig.

Ozan Kabak’s loan from Schalke isn’t expected to made into a permanent deal now that Konate has arrived instead, meaning the Turkey international will be vacating the number 19.

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