Ibrahima Konate Responds to Fan Who Slammed Saliba in France v Portugal

Liverpool centre-back Ibrahima Konate has leapt to the defence of his Arsenal counterpart and France international teammate William Saliba on social media.

This comes after a Liverpool fan posted on X (formerly Twitter) which appeared to mock the Arsenal defender for a mistake he made during France’s penalty shootout win over Portugal on Friday night.

The debate over whether Konate or Saliba should start for France has raged on, particularly between Arsenal and Liverpool fans. But while Konate has often been selected ahead of Mikel Arteta’s main defender in previous tournaments, it is now Saliba who has got the nod in EURO 2024 – although Liverpool fans remain ostensibly baffled by the choice.

Arsenal’s star kept Portugal at arm’s length in the quarter-final but conceded a free-kick in the 83rd minute, and a Liverpool fan, who admires Konate, took to X to point it out. It’s safe to say Konate was having none it, even though the 25-year-old has yet to feature in the tournament so far.

Konate Defends Saliba Amid Viral Video

The Liverpool defender was having none of it

Konate, though seeing the comedic side to things, jumped at the chance to defend Saliba, also offering an update on his fitness status ahead of France’s semi-final against Spain on Tuesday.

“My brother, stop doing that,” Konate replied. “Saliba is so good and he’s my brother! He deserves all this! So let’s be happy for him. Thank you for supporting me. I wasn’t 100%, that’s all. Now we have to go to the final. (Arsenal fans, you are so funny. See you soon In Sha Allah).”

William Saliba At EURO 2024

One of the tournament’s best players

Saliba has been one of the best players at Euro 2024 and Konate knows he will not be dislodging him anytime soon, reacting to losing his spot some days ago and openly admitting injuries have taken their toll on him.

Playing alongside Dayot Upamecano, the confident, ball-playing defender has kept two clean sheets in as many games with Les Bleus during the knockout stages as France look to live up to their high billing as tournament favourites.

This comes after Saliba played every minute of the 2023-24 Premier League campaign, helping the Gunners concede the least goals in the English top-flight, and he has continued his brilliance at international level, featuring in every minute of Euro 2024 so far.

With Mike Maignan, Theo Hernandez, Jules Kounde, and N’Golo Kante all helping Didier Deschamps’ centre defensive duo in keeping the goals out, all eyes will be on how they deal with Spain’s young attacking system on Tuesday, with defence being the key to success for the 2018 World Cup winners so far.