Liverpool have sealed their first signing of the summer with a deal for Ibrahima Konate.

A transfer agreement for the RB Leipzig defender has been announced today, as he competes with France for the Under-21 European Championships which resume on Monday.

Leipzig had a release clause of £36m in Konate’s contract, and Liverpool will pay the fee and make the centre-back Jurgen Klopp’s latest recruit.

Back in December, Konate spoke in an interview with Youtube channel Oh My Goal where he was asked who is the best player he’s played with, and he named a Liverpool player.

“Timo Werner and Naby Keita,” said Konate, when asked who the best players he’s shared a dressing room with are. “Naby Keita surprised me because of his size.

“He wasn’t tall, not muscly, but technically he was a step ahead, and even in passes and duels, he surprised me.”

Konate spoke briefly about Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk, who he included in his dream five-a-side team.

“I won’t have a goalkeeper, I’ll put Van Dijk and Sergio Ramos at the back,” Konate said.

“In midfield I’ll have N’Golo Kante and up front I’ll put Kylian Mbappe and Marcus Rashford.

“Rashford’s deadly, he’s a deadly player. He knows why he’s there.

“When he has a chance, it’s very rare for him not to put it in the back of the net.”

Despite including Van Dijk in his dream five-a-side team, Konate went with a different defender for who he sees as his role model.

“When I was little, I was a striker so it was Ronaldo R9, the Brazilian,” Konate continued.

“After that, the further back I moved, the more it changed. Now it’s Sergio Ramos.

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“He’s a warrior, that’s what inspires me about him.

“Whether he’s playing against a striker that is much stronger than him, or much smaller, he has the heart of a warrior, a leader, whether that’s on the pitch or off it.

“On social media, you can see he’s a hard worker above all else. That’s what makes me want to follow him.”

In a different interview with UMM YouTube channel in April, Konate was asked who he thinks is the best manager out of Jurgen Klopp, Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola.

Giggling throughout, and well-aware that whatever answer he chose would create headlines, he was mercifully allowed to sidestep the question.

"No, no, no, no. I think I cannot answer this question," he laughed. "I don't know, I don't know, I don't know."

When the rumours first emerged back in March, Konate was soon asked about the possibility of joining Liverpool.

At the time, Konate shrugged off the speculation and insisted that he was focused on performing for club and country.

"I woke up, I saw my phone ringing all over the place. I just wanted to tell them, 'Hey, I played yesterday, I'm tired, leave me alone'," Konate told French newspaper L'Equipe during the March international break.

"Frankly, I don't even watch this. We can't focus on that, there are the Euros and then my return to the club. You have to focus on that and not on the external things."