Ibrahima Konate reveals how Trent Alexander-Arnold positional change has affected him

Ibrahima Konate has revealed how he has benefited from Trent Alexander-Arnold's positional change at the business end of the 2022/23 campaign.

Liverpool ended the season with seven wins and two draws from their last nine Premier League encounters as Alexander-Arnold delivered a string of stellar displays in midfield. With the England international moving up into the centre of the park, Konate was tasked with playing on the right side of a back-three alongside Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson.

Speaking to the liverpoolfc.com from the club's training camp in Germany, Konate suggested that he became a better player as Alexander-Arnold's shift to midfield vacated more space at the back for the Reds.

He said: "Yes, maybe [it] made me a better player because I have to do more, because I have more space to defend. But I have a nice team to help me do this, and this season let's see what will happen."

The 24-year-old has established himself as one of Jurgen Klopp's best defenders since joining the club two seasons ago from RB Leipzig for a fee believed to be in the region of £36m. While Konate is already a key player for Liverpool, he believes he can take his game to another level this season and outlined his goals for the coming campaign.

"I'm very happy to be here and I want to win a lot of trophies with this club because it's an amazing club with a big history," he said. "I want to be a big part of this club and win a lot of trophies with this club.

"I think this season, the third season, I have to level up and show another personality of me on the pitch and in life as well. I have a lot of objectives – a lot of clean sheets, help my team, score some goals and win some trophies."

Konate also expressed his delight at reuniting with former RB Leipzig Dominik Szoboszlai, who joined the club earlier this summer to add some much-needed quality to Liverpool's existing options in midfield.

He added: "I'm very happy for him and now I think he understands it's a very, very big club. I think his life changed just when he signed for Liverpool. I'm happy for him to be here."

Konate has made 53 appearances in all competitions for Liverpool across two seasons and has lifted the FA Cup, Carabao Cup and the FA Community Shield so far. However, the France international has yet to play in more than 18 league games in a season, largely due to injury issues — an area he he will hope to improve to achieve his lofty goals in 2023/24.