Liverpool’s new defender Ibrahima Konaté has not featured in a club jersey on the pitch yet but has already caught the fans’ eyes in training due to his sheer size.
The French central defender stands at a mammoth 1.94 metres (6 ft 4 inch), and physically stands out from each and every one of his new teammates at the Merseyside outfit – as seen from Liverpool’s pre-season training footage.
Jurgen Klopp’s side have been training in Salzburg, Austria to kick off their pre-season leading up to the 2021/22 season.
Their only addition to the squad has been Konaté, who was signed from RB Leipzig for a fee of approximately £36m.
As a result, Liverpool fans have been keeping an eye out on social media in order to catch their new talent in action – and they have got much more than they asked for, as the centre back seems to dominate every single frame that he is in.
One of the frames that caught the most attention from the Reds supporters was Konaté featuring in a tussle with Konstantinos Tsikimas while Divock Origi watches in the background.
Konate activating beast mode in training 💪 #Liverpoolfc pic.twitter.com/xpnVDrCdmX
— Anything Liverpool (@AnythingLFC_) July 13, 2021
Konaté towers over the seemingly diminutive Greek, and one of the tallest members of the squad in the Belgian also looked comparatively shorter than Konaté.
More pictures featured Konaté jogging with his new teammates while looking head and shoulders taller than the rest of the batch.
Look at the size difference between Konate and Gomez 😳 pic.twitter.com/1rpU0owIQ8
— 🐐 (@6Thiagoat) July 12, 2021
Konaté is so tall, that even Joe Gomez – the 6 ft 2-inch central defender who is one of their tallest – appears to be shorter than the man-mountain of a footballer.
As a matter of fact, Konaté indeed edges it ahead of Virgil van Dijk who measures 1.93 metres as Liverpool’s tallest footballer.
Am I really see Konate’s body is bigger than Van Dijk??? 🧐 pic.twitter.com/RPiTVl25Ow
— Magical Mo (@MagicalMo_) July 16, 2021
Just as Konaté is very likely to stand out in any crowd whatsoever, Liverpool fans will hope that he stands out in the heart of their defence next season – and prove to be as dominant as he looks in the pictures from training.