The red flag is now firmly applied: Ibrahima Konate (£5.3m) is set to miss “weeks” of Premier League football through injury.
Arne Slot hadn’t provided us with any concrete news on Konate before the Gameweek 13 deadline.
But the signs didn’t look good when the defender himself posted an update on social media on Friday, heavily hinting at a lay-off.
Now, Slot has confirmed that the centre-half will be sidelined for a little while.
“Today I only had five defenders available. They [Konate and Bradley] will both be out for a few weeks and I have said many times before, it is always difficult to judge how many weeks this exactly is because you can think in the beginning, ‘Oh, probably going to be like this,’ and the end stage of an injury process can always differ a bit. But they will not be in the team this week for sure, both of them.” – Arne Slot, speaking on Sunday
You may have already ditched the France international. Over 400,000 managers have done so in advance of Tuesday’s deadline, in fact.
If not, here are a few replacements for the 10.3% owned centre-half. We’ve not selected anyone higher than £5.8m, which is 500k up on Konate’s current cost.
JOE GOMEZ
- Club: Liverpool
- Price: £4.8m
Let’s start with the replacement for Konate in the Liverpool team. On Sunday, that was Joe Gomez (£4.8m). That was also the case when Konate came off injured at half-time of the win over Brighton and Hove Albion in Gameweek 10.
It’s important to address the rotation risk. Will Jarell Quansah (£3.9m) get the odd start? Very possibly. Liverpool have a lot of fixtures in December, including some very tight turnarounds – like the ones in Gameweeks 13-15.
So far, however, Slot has preferred to keep his centre-halves the same – so long as they’re in form. Since Konate ousted Quansah in Gameweek 1, he and Virgil van Dijk (£6.4m) started every Premier League and UEFA Champions League match together.
Slot touched upon this policy of no rotation, outside of the EFL Cup, a month ago:
“If you look at the players who have played the most games, it’s mostly the centre-backs – and they don’t run the most if you compare that to full-backs or to midfielders or to wingers.
“So, there are multiple reasons why our full-backs or midfielders are sometimes rotated.” – Arne Slot
Gomez’s versatility – he has played in both full-back positions for Liverpool – may aid him in this three-game week, too. Trent Alexander-Arnold (£6.9m) is just back from injury and was taken off early on Sunday. Andrew Robertson (£5.9m) – regularly rotated by Slot this season – is on a run of six successive starts for club and country. Could Gomez (or Quansah) get a start at full-back in Gameweek 14 or 15, perhaps?
“I don’t think Kostas [Tsimikas] will be with us in the upcoming week as well. These players that we have available now, it is important for them now, even more than normal, for them to stay fit. And that is why I took Trent [Alexander-Arnold] off after 70 minutes. He was able to play longer, he played a very good game, defended really well again and was a major threat in attack. I think he was the one that played the ball towards Mo that led to the 1-0.
“But, knowing that we play Newcastle [on] Wednesday and Saturday the Merseyside derby with only five available, we have to take care of them. That’s why it was so pleasing to see the ones that came in – Joe [Gomez] and Jarell [Quansah] – did so well, even with Jarell in an unfamiliar position for him.” – Arne Slot, speaking on Sunday
Gomez is likely a medium-term pick at best. Konate may not be sidelined for that long (unconfirmed rumours suggest it’ll be the New Year), so he’s not going to be a permanent fixture in your FPL teams.
Virgil is, of course, the stand-out pick for expected minutes. If budget allows, he’s the man. If not, Gomez could be a handy cheaper alternative, albeit with the rotation caveat.
JURRIEN TIMBER
- Club: Arsenal
- Price: £5.5m
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