Konate absence leaves Liverpool thin before preseason

konate is set to miss Liverpool's early preseason window, and Arne Slot may begin training with only Jérémy Jacquet and Geovanni Leoni as senior center backs. That gives the manager a stripped-down back line just as the club starts a short buildup to the new Premier League season.

Jérémy Jacquet is expected to be ready for the planned start of Liverpool's preseason program in early July after a serious shoulder injury that arrived within a week of his February move. His transfer was worth up to $80.4 million and £60 million, and he has not played since the injury.

Jacquet and Leoni

Geovanni Leoni is the other available senior option in that opening stretch. He is expected to be there for day one of preseason after an ACL injury on his debut last September.

Those two names sit at the center of Liverpool's problem. Van Dijk will be away at the World Cup with Netherlands into early July at least and will not report back until the end of the month at the earliest, while Konate also will be at the tournament.

Slot's early July plan

Liverpool will first train at home before playing Sunderland in Nashville on July 25, Wrexham in New York four days later, and Leeds United in Chicago on Aug. 2. That schedule leaves little time for the defense to settle before the season starts on Aug. 22.

Joe Gomez adds another layer to the picture. He could pursue a summer transfer to play more regularly, and he turns 30 next May. For Slot, the first days of preseason may be less about rotation than simply having enough senior center backs on the grass.