Liverpool are reportedly eyeing a reunion with former centre-back Jarell Quansah, following the shock news that Ibrahima Konate is likely to leave the club.
There has been ongoing talk surrounding Konate signing a contract extension all season long, but it now looks as though he could be off, following a surprise update from Ben Jacobs on Thursday night:
“Exclusive: Ibrahima Konate is expected to leave Liverpool. No agreement has been reached between LFCand the French defender despite Konate indicating in April a deal was close.”
With Konate seemingly off to pastures new, there will be big pressure on Liverpool to sign a good replacement, unless they are putting all they faith in the likes of incoming signing Jeremy Jacquet and returning-from-injury Giovanni Leoni.
According to TEAMtalk, the Reds have “accepted” that the Frenchman is off, and they are now “internally discussing” bringing Quansah back to Anfield, having joined Bayer Leverkusen permanently last summer.
There is a buy-back clause in his Leverkusen contract worth £69m that is available to trigger until the summer of 2027, and Liverpool may be ready to act.
Should Liverpool bring Jarell Quansah back to Anfield?
Re-signing Quansah would feel like a risk for Liverpool, given the price tag and the fact that he wasn’t deemed to be good enough to retain initially.
That said, the 23-year-old has been called into England’s 2026 World Cup, so Thomas Tuchel has clearly been impressed with his impact in Germany, and Arne Slot hailed him last year, saying:
“Jarell is fast, strong and comfortable on the ball. He has every ingredient a centre-back for this club should have. Now the last parts should be consistency in his performances.”
Quansah is still young and has more time to develop, but ultimately, Liverpool cannot be spending £69m on a centre-back this summer, when wingers, central midfielders and possibly another right-back and striker are more important.
So the Reds need to look at a cheaper option at the back to fill the void left by Konate – perhaps an experienced head to play alongside Virgil van Dijk, but also not block Jacquet and Leoni’s pathway into the team as regulars.