{"id":680276,"date":"2026-06-02T18:09:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T18:09:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/680276\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T18:09:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T18:09:13","slug":"real-madrid-pursuing-ibrahima-konate-denzel-dumfries-deals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/680276\/","title":{"rendered":"Real Madrid pursuing Ibrahima Konate, Denzel Dumfries deals"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Real Madrid are actively pursuing deals to sign Ibrahima Konate and Denzel Dumfries, under the assumption Florentino Perez wins their upcoming club presidential elections.<\/p>\n<p>Konate, 27, will leave Liverpool as a free agent when the centre-back\u2019s contract expires on June 30.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Madrid have made Inter Milan\u2019s Dumfries their top target to strengthen at right-back and have held talks with the 30-year-old, who has a \u20ac20million (\u00a321.6m; $29.1m) release clause. Sources briefed on the deal, speaking anonymously as they did not have permission to discuss the details, say personal terms for Dumfries are not expected to be an issue.<\/p>\n<p>One further source said Madrid were planning on concluding the deal for Dumfries following the outcome of Sunday\u2019s presidential election, so long as Perez is declared the winner as is expected.<\/p>\n<p>Incoming head coach Jose Mourinho has been focused on strengthening the defence, with Madrid already targeting a centre-back before beginning negotiations with the Portuguese. Mourinho is aware of the deals being worked on in advance of his arrival.<\/p>\n<p>Perez, 79, is being rivalled for the Madrid presidency for the first time since 2004. Enrique Riquelme, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7297468\/2026\/05\/24\/real-madrid-enrique-riquelme-florentino-perez-elections\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">a 37-year-old renewable energy entrepreneur<\/a>, is standing against Perez in the election that will be held June 7, with around 100,000 Madrid club members eligible to vote.<\/p>\n<p>While the election campaign continues, Madrid\u2019s incumbent president has also been leading the appointment of the club\u2019s next manager. The Athletic reported last Friday that Mourinho has already signed a three-year contract to return for a second spell, following his time in charge from 2010-2013.<\/p>\n<p>Delays to the plan in appointing Mourinho \u2014 relating to Perez\u2019s decision to call an election \u2014 mean the 63-year-old\u2019s move from Benfica could end up <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7324490\/2026\/06\/01\/real-madrid-jose-mourinho-benfica-clause\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">costing the club<\/a> \u20ac15million.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-7324176 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/GettyImages-2276020169-scaled-e1780329887930.jpg\" alt=\"A shot of Mourinho from waist up with his hands in his pockets\" width=\"2361\" height=\"1574\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>\n      Mourinho is expected to return as Madrid head coach (Filipe Amorim \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p>Madrid\u2019s discussions with Mourinho and his representatives included plans to strengthen various positions this summer, with a particular focus on defence. In those talks, Mourinho asked for a backup right-back, a left-back to compete with 23-year-old Alvaro Carreras, a dominant centre-back and a creative midfielder.<\/p>\n<p>Madrid had previously considered a move for Konate, though expressed to Liverpool late last year that they were no longer interested in signing the Frenchman. The La Liga club have reignited their interest as they seek to sign a centre-back, with David Alaba leaving on a free transfer this summer and Eder Militao\u2019s continued fitness issues.<\/p>\n<p>Konate had long been in talks with Liverpool over a new deal, with discussions going back to October 2024. He told reporters in April that he was \u201cclose\u201d to an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7211760\/2026\/04\/20\/ibrahima-konate-liverpool-contract-update\/\" data-index=\"1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">agreement<\/a>, however, both sides were unable to reach an agreement, leading to Liverpool confirming his departure before he joined up with the France squad for the World Cup.<\/p>\n<p>With captain Dani Carvajal, 34, set to leave on the expiry of his contract at the end of June, Madrid would be left with Trent Alexander-Arnold as their only senior recognised right-back. The club\u2019s desired profile for a new arrival in this position is a second-choice option available for around \u20ac30million.<\/p>\n<p>Other players considered by Madrid include Tottenham Hotspur\u2019s Pedro Porro, 26, and Sporting CP\u2019s Ivan Fresneda, 21.<\/p>\n<p>There is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7321704\/2026\/06\/02\/manchester-united-transfer-latest-arsenal-liverpool-real-madrid-summer-2026\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">no indication<\/a> that Spurs are open to selling Spain international Porro for a fee that fits with Madrid\u2019s budget. The situation is similar with Fresneda, who is under contract until 2028, has a release clause of \u20ac80m and is considered an important player in Portugal.<\/p>\n<p>Dumfries, who is under contract at Inter until 2028 and will be part of Ronald Koeman\u2019s Netherlands World Cup squad, joined the Italian side from Dutch club PSV in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>Additional reporting: James Horncastle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Real Madrid are actively pursuing deals to sign Ibrahima Konate and Denzel Dumfries, under the assumption Florentino Perez&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":680277,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[10535,171232,24371,3450,1084,4898,34640,403,99],"class_list":["post-680276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-champions-league","tag-fc-internazionale-milano","tag-la-liga","tag-liverpool","tag-premier-league","tag-real-madrid","tag-serie-a","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=680276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680276\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/680277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=680276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=680276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=680276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}