Liverpool are on the hunt for a young centre-back but that should not be at the expense of one player already in their squad
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Liverpool head coach Arne Slot
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot(Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
The very nature of transfer business means the greater excitement will always be generated by potential incomings. And as Liverpool prepare for £116million Florian Wirtz to follow £29m Jeremie Frimpong in arriving from Bayer Leverkusen, with £45m-rated Milos Kerkez also in the pipeline and £30m Giorgi Mamardashvili already on board, there has been plenty of reason for Reds supporters to be enthused this summer.
But while Trent Alexander-Arnold and Caoimhin Kelleher have departed, there hasn't quite been the same focus on those departing Anfield.
That, though, is likely to change as emphasis shifts on which further players are to be moved on as the Liverpool recruitment team continue to tweak Arne Slot's squad ahead of their Premier League title defence.
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And one area of the team likely to offer increasing intrigue lies at the heart of the Reds rearguard.
It's no secret that, for several years, Liverpool have been looking to future-proof their centre-back options by snapping up leading young talent, only for the players in question to choose to make the next step in their careers elsewhere.
In 2023 it was Levi Colwill who, after an impressive season on loan at Brighton, chose to remain at Chelsea. Last year, Liverpool joined Real Madrid in battling for Leny Yoro only for the French teenager to join Premier League strugglers Manchester United.
And earlier this window, the Reds were among those courting Bournemouth's Dean Huijsen until the Spain international made it clear he only had eyes for boyhood club Real Madrid.
Liverpool, led by sporting director Richard Hughes, are continuing to scour the market for the next generation of central defender. In the meantime, however, an Academy graduate of their own, Jarell Quansah, made a successful breakthrough into the first team in 2023/24 and, while not given anywhere near the same minutes after the arrival of Slot, still managed 25 appearances in all competitions this season and claimed a Premier League winners' medal.
But as Quansah features for England in the UEFA European Under-21 Championships in Slovakia, speculation persists of the player being courted by several clubs including Leverkusen.
Reported interest from Newcastle United - who were told Quansah wasn't for sale last summer - was again dismissed earlier this year with Liverpool planning on having the 22-year-old as part of their squad next season.
And there's good reason why the Reds shouldn't entertain parting ways with the defender this transfer window. While Virgil van Dijk has reaffirmed his Anfield commitment for a further two years, there is significantly less clarity over the immediate futures of the remainding Liverpool centre-backs.
Joe Gomez, who was close to moving to Newcastle last summer, has featured for just 11 minutes since December due to a hamstring injury that required surgery, but was on the bench for the final two games of the season. He has started only eight Premier League games at centre-back since February 2023.
The big question, though, surrounds Ibrahima Konate. Approaching the last 12 months of his current contract, while there was progress in talks over a new deal towards the end of the season, the longer without an agreement being struck would leave Liverpool with a difficult decision to make.
They would sooner avoid a repeat of the Trent Alexander-Arnold situation and do not want to risk losing Konate for nothing next summer, particularly with European Super League advocates Real Madrid among those assessing a move for the France international. The next 10 weeks will be pivotal in shaping Konate's Liverpool career.
Were Quansah featuring for another Premier League club, he would be exactly the type of player Liverpool would be monitoring at present. His promise still outweighs his potential but, at 22, he remains very much a relative pup in centre-back terms.
Liverpool are going to need a new, young centre-back much sooner rather than later. But until that happens, to even consider Quansah's departure seems somewhat out of step from a recruitment team making all the right moves so far this summer.