£70m centre-back confirms he's ready to join Liverpool | OneFootball

An exciting centre-back has confirmed he is ready to join Liverpool.

After trying to reinforce a few key areas last summer, Richard Hughes' focus will be on the defence in the upcoming window.

He's already a step ahead with the purchase of Jeremy Jacquet but he will likely need more reinforcements in the coming years.

With the future of Ibrahima Konate uncertain and Virgil van Dijk's and Joe Gomez's contracts expiring in 2027, a refresh is needed.

It looks like Jacquet and Giovanni Leoni will spearhead the club's new defensive line. But they won't be alone. Hughes will be looking to add more pieces to Arne Slot's arsenal in the coming years.

And there's one defender he already has an agreement with, who once again confirmed with his performance that he will be ready to join Liverpool when the time comes.

Hughes did a lot of clever deals in the summer. Both in terms of sales and purchases. Getting Hugo Ekitike was probably the best decision he made.

Convincing Florian Wirtz to choose Liverpool over a bunch of other clubs was also an astute move. Not to mention Milos Kerkez also chose Liverpool over other deals, including Manchester City.

But there was one clever deal that went under the radar involving Bayer Leverkusen. And not it was not Jeremie Frimpong. Who could also go onto have a very successful career and who was signed for a bargain £29m.

It was Hughes' decision to sell Jarell Quansah to the German giants. Not so much the decision to sell but the terms that he agreed to was an ingenious move by Hughes.

Liverpool struck a £70m agreement in place to buy-back Quansah from Leverkusen as per a recent report.

But what was really clever and unique from Hughes is that the agreement goes even further. As we wrote previously, Liverpool also have a pre-agreement for a contract with Quansah if that £70m buy-back clause was triggered.

You don't strike an agreement over a future contract if you don't seriously plan on activating that release clause. Liverpool's agreement comes valid from 2027, and now it looks inevitable that they are going to trigger it.

Quansah has been sensational since joining Bayer Leverkusen. He's playing regular football and having the time of his life. He already has three goals for the German side this season and has comfortably looked like their best defender, taking not time to settle and adjust.

In this period, Quansah has also made his debut for England's senior national team and has been nominated for the Bundesliga Player of the Month.

His best performances have come in the Champions League, where Quansah was once again brilliant on Tuesday night as he helped his side qualify for the round of 16.

Quansah was one of the best players on the pitch as his side kept a clean-sheet against Olympiakos, winning four out of six ground duels and two out of three aerial duels while also making nine clearances and being the most fouled player on the pitch.

His ball carrying ability combined with his defensive prowess showed just why he is the perfect fit for Liverpool and it once again confirmed that he's ready to join the Reds.