Liverpool seem increasingly likely to sell Jarell Quansah - but will they regret letting him leave?
Ordinarily, when Premier League clubs consider selling home-grown young players, supporters are less than happy – so it is, perhaps, a little surprising to see so many Liverpool fans appear distinctly relaxed about the prospect of the club selling Jarell Quansah this summer.
According to a wide range of media sources, including German outlet Kicker, Bayer Leverkusen are in negotiations to strike a deal worth somewhere in the region of €30-40m (£25-34m) for the defender, who is currently on international duty with England and the European Under-21 Championship in Slovakia.
In effect, Liverpool could end up having swapped Quansah for Leverkusen’s Jeremie Frimpong, who is already joining Arne Slot’s side along with team-mate Florian Wirtz. But is that a smart move – and are Liverpool fans right to be content with Quansah’s departure?
Why Jarell Quansah struggled to make a strong impression at Liverpool
Quansah was in Slot’s starting line-up for the first game of the season, an eventual 2-0 win away to Ipswich Town, but clearly didn’t make a good impression on his new manager – the now 22-year-old was substituted at half-time, and didn’t start again in the league until December.
By the end of the season, he had started just four Premier League matches, having plainly struggled to win Slot over when given chances in cup competitions. Given the hype that surrounded him coming into the 2024/25 campaign, it was a disappointment, especially given that he was also being called up to England squads at the same time.
The reasons that Slot didn’t trust Quansah are perhaps fairly clear watching the matches back. Although blessed with all of the physical and technical qualities a top team could want in a centre-half, his positioning and reading of the game often left plenty to be desired.
Although he rarely made clear-cut blunders – only one shot was credited by the statistician as coming about as a result of a direct mistake of his – he was too slow to the ball too often and wasn’t always able to shepherd attacking players out of dangerous areas. The raw quality was there, but he lacked refinement.
Given that he has only 74 senior starts under his belt (16 of which were on loan at Bristol Rovers), it’s perhaps understandable that he hasn’t quite got the tactical side of the game down yet. Still, on that same basis, it may just as understandable that Liverpool are content to let him leave.
Why Quansah’s departure may come back to bite Liverpool
On the face of it, getting at least £25m for a player who is ultimately a back-up isn’t a bad deal, especially given that Liverpool are breaking spending records as the compile one of the most expensive transfer windows in Premier League history. Wirtz, Frimpong and Milos Kerkez aren’t going to pay for themselves.
The question is whether they will regret it down the line. After all, Quansah is young and his deficiencies can be coached out of him. Positioning can be taught, but his physical and technical traits are precisely where a manager would want them.
That’s the gamble Leverkusen are taking – on a player who is excellent defending one-on-one, comfortable on the ball, an accurate passer and who has the speed, strength and height to become dominant once he learns how to use those attributes a little more effectively.
If he develops his ability to read the game and his grasp of where to position himself to take space away from attacking players, he could well become a world-class centre-back. Leverkusen, who can scarcely be accused of making many mistakes in the transfer market of late, clearly believe that there is a respectable chance of that, given their likely outlay.
They may well be influenced by the knowledge that even if Quansah doesn’t reach the heights, there is every chance that an English side would happily give them their money back or even a tidy profit in order to sign a home-grown player – but this is a team who are competing for titles, and they are unlikely to sign players they don’t think can be immediate contributors.
And from Liverpool’s perspective, the money earned from selling Quansah will inevitably need to be reinvested in another centre-half. Ibrahima Konaté has just one year left on his contract at Anfield and his future is uncertain. Virgil van Dijk isn’t getting any younger. They will have to buy another defender to replace the potential replacement for their current starters.
It is, perhaps, Liverpool that are taking the bigger chance with this trade. They will ultimately be exchanging a known quantity for an unknown one, and while Slot plainly has a pretty clear idea of what he’s doing, it’s easy to see Quansah potentially turning into a far better player than he is now.
Perhaps the fans who are laid back about the youngster’s departure will be proven right – or perhaps they’ll feel a little foolish in a few years when Leverkusen sell Quansah back into the Premier League for twice the price they paid up front. Or, perhaps, when the next defender they sign struggles himself.
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