Liverpool tipped to re-sign defender as ‘elite’ Reds star ‘will go’ in the summer
European football expert Andy Brassell reckons Liverpool could re-sign Jarell Quansah with Ibrahima Konate set to leave Anfield in the summer.
The Reds were hit with a transfer blow on deadline day in the summer as Crystal Palace pulled out of a deal to allow Marc Guehi move to Liverpool as the centre-back was having his medical.
And Liverpool now find themselves short of centre-backs this season with Joe Gomez the main back-up for Konate and Virgil van Dijk after summer signing Giovanni Leoni suffered a season-ending injury early on in the campaign.
Liverpool will likely enter the transfer market in the summer to sign a new centre-back despite agreeing a deal to bring Rennes’ Jeremy Jacquet to the club at the end of the season in a £60m deal.
Brassell said on talkSPORT: “I’m sure Liverpool will go out and buy another centre-back from here. They have to.
“They really have to go out and buy a new centre-back from here because, depending on what happens with Van Dijk, they can’t have Van Dijk plus Jacquet and Leoni going into next season.
“They can’t do that. It leaves them too thin. So, they need to find someone.”
Quansah was sold to Bayer Leverkusen in the summer transfer window in a deal that could rise to £35m but Brassell reckons Liverpool could buy him back at a later date.
Brassell added: “I wonder if at some point Jarell Quansah maybe comes back. I think that has to be a question as well.
“We’ve seen that before with players going out to the Bundesliga.
“Or do you even look at going way back, look at Dani Carvajal having his year in Leverkusen before going back to Real Madrid and becoming a Real Madrid legend. That’s always a possibility, I think.”
Brassell has the feeling that Konate “will go” in the summer on a free transfer with Liverpool still unable to reach an agreement over a new contract.
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The European football expert continued: “It feels to me like Konate will go. Marc Guehi has made his move already. Dayot Upamecano is staying at Bayern. He’s signing a new contract.
“So, from there being all these available free transfer centre-backs – and of course, Real Madrid had interest in all three of them at some point – that’s whittled down to one elite centre-back.
“Now, if you’re Konate, if Liverpool aren’t prepared to give you the deal that you want…and I can understand their reticence.
“He’s had his fitness issues and certainly his form issues this season. But I think in terms of status, he’s still recognised as an elite centre-back.
“I think you’re in a position to go and get exactly what you [Konate] want, really, this summer.
“You think of the big clubs that will be looking for a centre-back. So, Real Madrid are definitely interested. We know that already.
“PSG would be interested. And then you look on from there and maybe Barcelona would make an offer.
“They definitely need an extra defender, and they haven’t got a bottomless pit of money with which to do it.
“But there are so many options open to him for the moment, particularly after the World Cup.
“To be him on a free transfer at the moment, the world is your oyster. The European football world is your oyster.”
