Liverpool have put Jarell Quansah back on the table as a possible answer to their centre-back planning, with a £52 million buy-back clause in place if they decide to bring him back next summer. A contract has already been agreed should the defender return to Merseyside, making the move far more than a loose idea and turning him into a defined option rather than a distant possibility.
That is why Quansah is being searched now. Liverpool sold him to Bayer Leverkusen for £35 million, but they did not close the door behind him, and the clause gives them a clear route back if their defensive picture worsens again. The 21-year-old has settled into a regular role at the heart of Leverkusen's backline, and Thomas Tuchel has already called him up to the World Cup, which only underlines how far his stock has risen since leaving Anfield.
For Liverpool, the timing matters because the club have been living with centre-back concerns for well over a year. They failed to reach an agreement with Crystal Palace over Marc Guehi last summer, Giovanni Leoni will only return to preseason training after an ACL injury in September, Joe Gomez has been repeatedly sidelined, and Virgil van Dijk turns 35 in July. Ibrahima Konate could also leave on a free, which would be a blow from a squad standpoint, and another central defender will almost certainly be needed either this summer or the next.
Quansah's own Liverpool spell never fully settled under Arne Slot. At Portman Road, in Slot's first league match away at Ipswich Town, he started alongside Van Dijk and was taken off at half-time for Konate. In the season Liverpool won the Premier League title, he managed only three full 90 minutes in the league, and his only complete game at right back came in the 3-3 draw with Newcastle. Slot did not view him as an ideal squad member, which made the summer exit feel decisive at the time.
Now the picture has changed because Liverpool have kept control of the door. If the club decide the back line needs one more proven piece, the clause and the already agreed contract mean Quansah could be the simplest fix of all. The question is no longer whether he fits the club's plans; it is whether Liverpool are prepared to spend £52 million to bring him home next summer.
