'Alarm bells go off' - Liverpool boss Arne Slot confirms Ibrahima Konate injury after defender forced off against Chelsea

The Frenchman appeared to pick up the ailment early in the second half, with his manager noting Konate was visibly limping. Slot said he was planning on making the eventual switch regardless of Konate's condition. The Dutchman replaced his out-and-out centre-back with midfielder Curtis Jones, as Gravenberch would allow better quality on the ball from deep. 

Slot said: “I don’t know if it is a big injury, but what I do know is he limped a little bit and when I asked him he said he felt his quad a little bit.

“Then, for me, all alarm bells go off because in another sprint you never know if that is going to go good.

“It was also already a substitution I had in mind, maybe for a few minutes or a little bit later, because the right centre-back had a lot of ball possession and we needed to create from that position. We all know Ryan [Gravenberch] is quite good in that.

“It might be OK that he went off early enough but it was clear I had to take him off because he was limping.”

A long-term injury will again raise questions over the Reds' transfer business this summer, where they prioritised attacking reinforcements over replenishing their defensive stocks. 

Jarell Quansah's departure to Bayer Leverkusen has left the Reds with just three recognised centre-backs: Konate, Van Dijk and Joe Gomez. A deadline day move for Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi fell through after Eagles chairman Steve Parish pulled the plug on the switch, prioritising this season and potentially letting the England centre-back walk for free when his contract runs out in 2026. 

Gomez does not appear to be part of his manager's plans going forward. The 28-year-old did not feature much in the pre-season, as he struggled with an Achilles injury. Rumours of a move to AC Milan were surprising given the Reds' lack of depth in the position. 

Slot used the off-season to experiment with Gravenberch and Wataru Endo as auxiliary centre-backs. Given his decision to drop his midfield anchor into defence again, it would appear he will continue with that idea if Konate is sidelined.

Saturday's defeat to Chelsea was the first time that Liverpool's bountiful attacking options were cited as the reason for their issues this season. Gary Neville used his post-game podcast to lambast the second-half performances of Cody Gakpo, Florian Wirtz and Mohamed Salah. Based on the xG, Liverpool should have won the game, and their back-line certainly was not at fault for Moises Caicedo's thunderous strike to open the scoring. 

However, there are worrying signs for the Reds. They have kept just two clean sheets all season; one against recently-promoted Burnley and against Arsenal in a game that saw Mikel Arteta criticised for his defensive approach. 

Neither Milos Kerkez nor Jeremie Frimpong have nailed down their respective positions on either side of the defence, with Conor Bradley preferred to the Dutchman over the past few outings. 

Konate and Van Dijk was supposed to be one of the core foundations upon which Liverpool could bed in their newbies this term. Even if they have looked less solid this season, a break-up of that partnership would hardly be welcomed by the Anfield brains trust.

Konate typically starts for France alongside Bayern's Dayot Upamecano as part of Didier Deschamps' preferred centre-back pairings, and he has been picked to represent his country for their upcoming World Cup Qualifiers against Iceland and Azerbaijan. However, if there is any indication he could aggravate a niggling soft tissue injury, it is highly likely Liverpool will block his release for international duty. 

Liverpool face a crucial run of fixtures after the break, first taking on arch-rivals Manchester United in the Premier League, before travelling to Germany to face Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League. Coming off three consecutive losses, they will need as close to a full compliment as they can muster, especially given their lack of resources in the heart of their defence.