Arsenal told Quansah signing is ‘no-brainer’ as Morrison asks big question of Gunners pair
Clinton Morrison has told Arsenal that signing Jarell Quansah is a “no-brainer” as he feels they need depth, with questions asked of William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes.
The Gunners have on Friday been linked with England defender Quansah. They’ve been looking for a centre-back who can also play as a wide defender, and Ezri Konsa has been their favoured option.
But they’ve refused to pay Aston Villa’s £60million asking price, so Bayer Leverkusen’s Quansah is in sight.
Morrison feels that would be a great signing for Arsenal.
He said on Sky Sports (11:15, Friday, August 14): “For me, I think it would be a good signing and it’s a no-brainer. A young English defender wanting to come back to the Premier League. It would be a really good signing.
“Listen, everyone knows when they’re fit it will be Saliba and Gabriel, but can they stay fit for the majority of the season? Well, Saliba’s going to be out for a bit, so, signing Jarell Quansah would be a really good signing for Arsenal.
“You need [competition] as well. In the full-back areas you probably need two full-backs, and at centre-half and centre-forward I think you need four.
“At the moment obviously Saliba’s injured, you got [Cristhian] Mosquera, you got Gabriel. For me, Jarell Quansah, at that age as well, the young English centre-half who can play right-back, would be a really good signing for Arsenal.
“You can see that one happening. Arsenal are making statement signings, and I’m not saying it’s a Bruno Guimaraes signing and it might not excite the Arsenal fans, but it’s something that they need and he’s a good, young defender.”
Leverkusen don’t want to sell
The issue for Arsenal, as it has been in their pursuit of Konsa, will be the stance of the selling club. Leverkusen aren’t said to want to part with Quansah, who they only signed last summer.
When they did so, Liverpool added a buyback clause – around £70million for this summer. Given he’s going to be more expensive than Konsa, the Gunners wanting to pay the required fee seems unlikely.
The report on the original interest states Quansah will cost ‘considerably more’ than the £30million that Leverkusen paid for him last summer.
Whether Arsenal will bother pushing on for a transfer they might struggle to finance remains to be seen.
READ MORE: Arsenal reach ‘agreement’ for next signing as Ezri Konsa verdict on joining Gunners revealed
