Ibrahima Konaté has confirmed that his father has passed away following his absence from Liverpool’s match.

Liverpool centre-back Ibrahima Konaté has announced the heartbreaking passing of his father, Hamady.

The 26-year-old was absent from the Reds’ Champions League fixture against Marseille on Wednesday evening, with Liverpool later confirming that he had remained in France to attend to a family matter. Konaté subsequently shared news of his father’s death on Instagram, alongside details of Hamady’s funeral, which is scheduled for Friday, and the message: “From Him we come, and to Him we return.”

Konaté had not featured in Liverpool’s open training session at Kirkby on Tuesday, before the club confirmed he would not travel with the squad to face the Ligue 1 side. While Liverpool did not initially expand on his absence, head coach Arne Slot described the situation as “very sad” for the defender during a pre-match interview with TNT Sports.

With Konaté unavailable, Joe Gomez partnered Virgil van Dijk at the back and played his part in a solid defensive display as Liverpool recorded a 3-0 victory and kept a clean sheet.

After the match, Van Dijk paid tribute to his teammate, saying: “My thoughts are with him. I’m very happy to play with Joe. We are good friends, that helps as well. He played outstanding and was important in the first goal.”

Whether Konaté will be available for Saturday night’s Premier League trip to Bournemouth remains unclear, with Slot expected to provide an update at his press conference on Friday morning.