Ibrahim Konate
The finals of the Copa America and Euro 2020 both take place on the weekend of July 10, and Liverpool will report for pre-season on July 12. The players who are involved in the latter stages of the international tournaments will obviously be exempt from the early stages of the Reds’ preparation for the 2021/22 campaign. But new signing Ibrahima Konate will be present on day one after Liverpool decided to move early to secure a deal for the young defender, and the Reds’ assistant manager believes this to be a significant advantage for the player.
Peter Krawietz said: “This is always a massive advantage if you can join in the full pre-season, especially for a new player. As I mentioned before, there are a few things which will be different for him from Leipzig coming to Liverpool. Giving him enough time to adapt, to learn, to know the coaching staff and the manager, to give him time to adapt to the whole process of the pre-season and tactically to learn about our style of play – which is not completely different but the details are the most important thing – and to adapt in a physical way [is important].”
Everything he says on the matter undoubtedly seems logical, but has there been any evidence of the importance of new signings getting a full pre-season in the Jurgen Klopp era?
