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Marc Guehi and Jarell Quansah of England look on during a training session at St Georges Park on November 12, 2024(Image: Alex Livesey\/Getty Images)<\/p>\nLiverpool made sure to cover their backs when they sold the new England international in the summerMarc Guehi and Jarell Quansah of England look on during a training session at St Georges Park on November 12, 2024(Image: Alex Livesey\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
It will be all eyes on Anfield on Saturday as Liverpool return to Premier League<\/a> action at home to Nottingham Forest. But it will not be long before the gaze of supporters is diverted to January 1 and the opening of the transfer window.<\/p>\n Fresh from winning a record-equalling 20th top-flight title, Liverpool<\/a> shelled out more than \u00a3400m in the summer window as head coach Arne Slot<\/a> and sporting director Richard Hughes<\/a> reshaped the squad that stormed to the championship. But it was not all about the incomings. The Reds also recouped \u00a3200m in sales.<\/p>\n Further arrivals and departures could well follow in the new year with Bournemouth’s flying winger Antoine Semenyo a name that is gathering traction in the gossip columns after it was revealed that his contract contains a \u00a365m release clause.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Antoine Semenyo agreement reached as pundits say same thing about Liverpool bid<\/a>READ MORE: Alisson Becker, Jeremie Frimpong, Alexander Isak – Liverpool injury news and return dates<\/a><\/p>\n Whether Hughes returns to his former club once more, after snapping up Milos Kerkez<\/a> for \u00a340m and selling Ben Gannon-Doak<\/a> to the Cherries for \u00a320m, remains to be seen.<\/p>\n But what is clear is that the defending Premier League champions did want to sign a centre-back in the summer and would have done so had Crystal Palace not pulled the plug on a \u00a335m deal for captain Marc Guehi on deadline day<\/a>.<\/p>\n And the need for cover and competition for captain Virgil van Dijk<\/a>, Ibrahima Konate<\/a> and Joe Gomez<\/a> is even more pressing now after the devastating injury suffered by the centre-back who did arrive in the last window, Giovanni Leoni<\/a>.<\/p>\n Given Konate is in the last year of his contract, and it would appear that the long-serving Gomez’s future also carries some uncertainty, it is a position the Reds will soon have to address.<\/p>\n But in a way they already have – if they want to.<\/p>\n Thrilling late wins for Republic of Ireland and then Scotland may have grabbed the headlines over the international break, but there was a heart-warming video clip of Jarell Quansah<\/a> being presented with his legacy cap by captain Harry Kane after making his senior England debut in the World Cup qualifying 2-0 win over Albania.<\/p>\n It capped a season of continued progress for the 22-year-old after he swapped Liverpool for Bayer Leverkusen in a \u00a335m transfer in July.<\/p>\n Quansah has been operating on the right-hand side of a back three for the Bundesliga outfit but was played at right-back by Thomas Tuchel in Tirana on Sunday.<\/p>\n And that could spell bad news for his former club-mate Trent Alexander-Arnold<\/a>, who also left the Reds in the summer to sign for Real Madrid for \u00a310m before his contract officially expired.<\/p>\n \u201cI have a lot of trust in Jarell,\u201d England boss Tuchel said. \u201cI see his talent but I see the package (too). He is tall, fast, strong in build-up, in the air.<\/p>\n \u201cI saw him playing very strong for Liverpool in this position (right-back). So I always wanted to try (him there). And he plays every minute for Leverkusen since the Under-21 Euros (which he won with England).<\/p>\n \u201cSo he is, at the moment, a tiny bit ahead (of Alexander-Arnold).\u201d<\/p>\n Given Quansah’s versatility, it’s hard not to imagine that he would have enjoyed more game time for Liverpool this season, both at centre-back and at right-back, given the injury sustained by new boy Jeremie Frimpong<\/a>, who made the opposite move from Leverkusen.<\/p>\n That, of course, is the benefit of hindsight.<\/p>\n But the Reds made sure to cover their backs when they sold Quansah.<\/p>\n The transfer was viewed as being ‘the best both worlds’, allowing a young player the time and space to improve away from the intense glare of the Anfield<\/a> spotlight with regular first-team football at a club with lofty ambitions, all while retaining a degree of control on his future, should he improve to the levels that had been anticipated.<\/p>\n