According to reports, Liverpool already have a total agreement for a £52m signing as they look to replace one of their most important players.
Liverpool were very active in this summer’s transfer window as they were far ahead as the biggest spending club in Europe, investing around £415m on incomings.
Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike were Liverpool’s three most expensive signings, with the club’s budget boosted by the sales of Jarell Quansah, Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Harvey Elliott.
This makes for a near-perfect summer window, though their failure to land Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi on deadline day leaves the centre-back department as a weak spot in Arne Slot‘s side.
Liverpool signed teenager Giovanni Leoni in the summer, though they will be short on options if Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and/or Joe Gomez get injured.
The Reds also have looming problems regarding these players, with Konate in the final year of his contract and heavily linked with a potential move to Real Madrid in 2026.
Van Dijk, meanwhile, is out of contract in 2027 after penning an extension earlier this year, with The Daily Mail reporter Lewis Steele pointing out that they ‘need more centre-backs in the coming windows’.
One option for Liverpool is to re-sign Quansah from Bayer Leverkusen after selling the young centre-back to the Bundesliga side for around £35m in the summer.
Quansah enjoyed a great breakout campaign in Jurgen Klopp’s last season at Anfield, though his form dipped last season as Liverpool chiefs decided to cash in.
However, Liverpool have covered themselves by inserting a 60 million euro (£52m) buy-back clause in the deal with Bayer Leverkusen and this can be sanctioned from 2027 onwards.
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Now, Steele has also revealed that the ‘terms of a future contract’ are also in place between Liverpool and Quansah.
‘Jarell Quansah. It can be revealed that Liverpool have a pre-existing agreement in place with Quansah over the terms of a future contract should they decide to use their buyback clause that was inserted when he was sold to Bayer Leverkusen for £35m this summer,’ Steele wrote for The Daily Mail.
‘They like him a lot, as they do Harvey Elliott and Ben Doak, and only sold him because it seemed like good money and the Englishman wanted to play every week – something Slot could not promise him here.
‘But with Van Dijk most probably leaving in two years, Konate unsure about his future (more on that in a second) and Gomez very nearly departing two summers running, they will need more centre backs in the coming windows.
‘It is by no means set in stone but Quansah could be an option to return.’
Regarding Konate, Steele has indicated that he is not intentionally running down his contract, though his situation is a ‘worry for Liverpool’.
‘Not necessarily but it is fair to say Konate’s future hangs in the balance at the time of writing,’ Steele added.
‘It was November when Richard Hughes first opened talks with Konate’s representatives and, 10 months on, we are no closer to a resolution.
Confidential understands Liverpool remain in talks with Konate’s camp and want to wrap up a deal to ensure a position of strength for the future.
‘But there is nothing more to say than that: it is not signed yet and there has been no definite indication either way on the direction of travel. But it is a worry for Liverpool especially after the long-running sagas over contracts last year.
‘With respect to Konate, he is not as high-profile as Salah or Van Dijk but it would still be a huge blow to lose him for nothing. Real Madrid’s interest is real.’