Second source confirms Liverpool looking to re-sign star Arne Slot booted out | OneFootball

There’s been further confirmation Liverpool are looking into bringing Jarell Quansah back to Anfield, and confusion over the value of Liverpool’s buy-back clause and when it can be activated has been clarified.

Few will remember Quansah was actually chosen to start Arne Slot’s first Premier League match as manager of Liverpool. Quansah got the nod over Ibrahima Konate in the season-opener versus Ipswich Town last year, but unfortunately for the 23-year-old, that’s as good as it got.

Quansah was hooked at half-time, with Slot pointing to the defender losing too many duels as the reason why.

He spent the next 11 league matches rooted to the bench, and the few opportunities that did arise later in the season largely came at right-back amid injuries to Trent Alexander-Arnold and Conor Bradley.

Clearly, Slot didn’t fancy Quansah and with Liverpool bringing highly-rated Giovanni Leoni in over the summer, Quansah was sold to Bayer Leverkusen for roughly £35m.

But with Liverpool twice missing out on Marc Guehi and another new centre-back on top of Jeremy Jacquet required if Konate leaves via free agency at season’s end, there’s growing speculation Quansah could return after just a single year away.

Transfer insider, Graeme Bailey, recently confirmed Liverpool extensively scouted Quansah during the month of February, and the reports they received back were positive. Quansah even scored in two of those games, taking his goals tally for the season to four.

Now, a second source in the form of Sky Germany’s Patrick Berger has confirmed Liverpool could re-sign Quansah.

‘Liverpool FC are considering re-signing Jarell Quansah (23),’ wrote Berger on X. ‘Liverpool secured an €80m buy-back clause when he joined Bayer 04 Leverkusen for €35m last summer.

‘The clause is valid until the end of May. The centre back has impressed in the Bundesliga.’

But while Liverpool’s interest in bringing Quansah back is clearly genuine, we can confirm Berger’s claims about the buy-back option are off.

Back when Quansah joined Leverkusen, transfer guru Fabrizio Romano insisted the buy-back option only becomes active in 2027, thus ensuring Leverkusen have control of the player for at least two full seasons.

Furthermore, Romano noted the value of the clause is worth around €60m, not €80m as Berger now claims.

Our colleagues over at TEAMtalk have done some digging and the news back to insider, Graeme Bailey, is the clause is worth €60m and can’t be triggered until the summer of 2027.

Nevertheless, it is still entirely possible Quansah re-joins Liverpool after just one year away, with Bailey explaining: “Sources have confirmed that Liverpool inserted a buy‑back clause into the deal at a fixed fee, and while this only activates in 2027, it does still strengthen their hand should they pursue a deal this summer.

“And with Leverkusen fully aware that the Reds are watching him again, were Quansah to show interest in returning to Anfield this summer, we understand Leverkusen would NOT stand in his way and could reluctantly agree to bring forward the arrangement, which we can confirm is worth €60m (£52.5m, $70.5m).”

Some may question the logic in Liverpool selling a player they might then buy back for a significantly higher sum 12 months later.

But in truth, Quansah’s game would not have developed as it has in Germany if he’d have spent the last seven months playing second fiddle to Konate and Virgil van Dijk at Anfield.

What’s more, Liverpool will have logged the proceeds from Quansah’s sale as ‘pure profit’ on the books given his homegrown status. If re-signed, his transfer fee will be spread over the length of his contract.