Liverpool star Ibrahima Konate teases William Saliba with Arsenal trophy jibe
Liverpool and Arsenal are battling it out for the Premier League title, and despite being together on international duty, Frenchmen Ibrahima Konate and William Saliba engaged in verbal jousting.
Ibrahima Konaté was caught pulling William Saliba’s leg(Image: French Football Federation)
Liverpool star Ibrahima Konate was caught teasing Arsenal’s William Saliba in a lighthearted exchange over the Premier League title race. Arsenal are currently top of the table, one point ahead of reigning champions Liverpool, who have suffered back-to-back defeats to relinquish their grip on the top spot.
But the battle is suspended during the international break. Konaté and Saliba both play for France, so they had to put their clubs’ rivalry aside for a short time.
But that didn’t stop the Liverpool centre-back from pulling Saliba’s leg in a moment filmed by the France team’s social media team. It all started when a fan asked Konate to sign a photo of himself holding the Premier League trophy in May this year.
“Hey Wilo, it’s you, right?” Konate joked. “No, no, it’s you for this year,” Saliba replied.
Konaté responded by saying: “It’s for you this year”, to which the Arsenal defender joked: “No, it’s Liverpool again! We need to put pressure on them.”
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Saliba has spoken about Konate in the media this week, with the latter picking up an injury during Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat to Chelsea on Saturday. “He has not trained because he is suffering from minor injuries,” Saliba told a news conference. “I hope he comes back soon but I don’t know more.”
Earlier this week, France manager Didier Deschamps suggested Konaté’s problem was simply fatigue, saying: “There are still injuries. I don’t have any further information. We will have an update when the players arrive.
“The observation is that for the vast majority, they arrive tired. They arrive from one week to three matches. I will have to spread out the playing time more than in September. They are all fit to play.”
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Konaté and Saliba have a common goal of winning the 2026 World Cup, and this could be a summer of change for one of them. While Saliba is tied to Arsenal for another five years after recently signing an extension, Konate has entered the final year of his contract with Liverpool and is set to leave on a free transfer amid interest from Real Madrid.
“I am proud of myself because I first signed in 2019, and now in 2025, I am still here to extend my contract,” he said. “I’m so happy. I feel at home. We have a good team, we have a good group, we have a good staff. The coach is perfect for me, so it’s the best place to be.
“I enjoy every day I have the chance to wear this jersey. I try to give everything, and now I’m going to give even more to this club and the fans. The boss is one of the best coaches in the world. He has helped me and his staff a lot, so I’m so happy to have them as my coach.
“I’m 24 now and I think I haven’t reached my peak. I have a lot to improve, a lot to give to this team, and I know the coach and the staff will help me become the best, or one of the best, defenders in the world and win trophies.”