Bayer Leverkusen's Champions League trip to Anfield helped to convince Jarell Quansah to make the move to the Bundesliga club.
Quansah's move to Leverkusen was confirmed on Wednesday, after Liverpool accepted an offer of £30 million ($41 million) plus £5 million ($7 million) in add-ons for the young center-back.
Speaking as his move was confirmed, Quansah revealed that the way Leverkusen played in a 4-0 defeat at Anfield last November left a lasting impression on him.
"I was able to get a good impression of the team and the club when Liverpool played Leverkusen in the Champions League last season. A brilliant team – for the first hour they played like almost no other side at Anfield," Quansah said.
“The ambitious targets here were clearly explained to me during the negotiations. It's a great role and challenge for me to be part of the current Leverkusen rebuild."
While Liverpool won that game 4-0, it was 0-0 until the hour mark, before a goal from Cody Gakpo and a Luis Diaz hat-trick secured an emphatic victory for Arne Slot's side.
Leverkusen's sporting director Simon Rolfes expressed his delight at landing Quansah, saying: "We are very happy to be been able to sign Jarell Quansah, one of the most promising English central defenders.
"He made a very impressive contribution to a Liverpool defense full of world-class players. Jarell will give our defense extra dynamism, tempo and strength in winning the ball and he will also be another, very important element of the Werkself (Leverkusen's nickname) of the future."
A buy-back clause has been inserted in the deal that takes Quansah to Germany, giving Liverpool the security of knowing it still retains a significant amount of control over the 22-year-old's future.
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Liverpool has been linked with Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi as a replacement for Quansah, but the Reds will not overpay for any target and a move will only materialize if the terms suit the Merseyside club.
Arne Slot showed a willingness to deploy Ryan Gravenberch and Wataru Endo in the center of Liverpool's defense last season, and he is open to doing that again next season if the right opportunity to sign a new center-back does not arise.
However, that scenario is far from ideal, considering Quansah's departure leaves Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Ibrahima Konate as the only genuine senior center-backs in Liverpool's squad.
To add to the instability, Gomez missed the final four months of last season due to a hamstring injury, while uncertainty surrounds Konate's future amid interest from Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain. Konate's current Liverpool contract is due to expire next summer.