'Amazing' player's reason for leaving Liverpool is exactly why he won't be back in 2026 - opinion

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Jarell Quansah has now been linked with a return to Liverpool, but a move back to Anfield makes no sense from the player’s point of view.At the time of his exit in 2025, there was a suggestion that Richard Hughes made the biggest mistake of the summer.Quansah is now excelling with Bayer Leverkusen and has been garnering interest from Liverpool scouts ahead of a potential return. Liverpool have to lose one of the two games vs Wolves, which do you pick?

Out of the cup or top four hopes take a hit? Photo Credit: Getty Images/James Gill/Danehouse/Julian Finney Jarell Quansah won’t get the minutes he wants at Liverpool in 2026/27For the club, a return may make sense, bringing home a former Academy player after he’s cemented himself at one of the top sides in Germany.However, we can’t forget that Quansah wanted to leave last year because he wanted to play more football, and Liverpool could not offer him enough minutes to satisfy the centre-back.The 23-year-old himself also commented on his exit in October 2025, reportedly explaining that he wanted to play ‘hundreds’ of games.He said at the time: “I just wanted to sort of keep progressing.

I’ve always been learning off some of the best players around me at the time at Liverpool and being able to do that has been so good for my career.“I’m 22, turning 23, I’m going to be needing hundreds of games to be where I want to be at the end of the day.“I think overall that’s just why the decision was made and why I thought going abroad was sort of best for me.” Pick your favourite modern Liverpool legend… Two icons of the Klopp era 🔴🙌 Mo Salah and Sadio Mane for Liverpool Well, he’s now getting that at Leverkusen, featuring 32 times and scoring four goals across all competitions this term.A return to Liverpool for the ‘amazing’ player, at least in 2026, would not afford Quansah such opportunities.If Ibrahima Konate signs a new deal, he and Virgil van Dijk (under contract until 2027) will likely remain the starting centre-back pairing.Behind them, Liverpool have just spent £60m on Jeremy Jacquet, who will need regular minutes once he arrives later this year.There is then Giovanni Leoni to consider, who, like Jacquet, will need to start playing a fair amount to develop when he is back from injury.At best, Quansah would be back to being third-choice at Liverpool, and that’s not going to fulfil his desire to play ‘hundreds’ of games.It may be a different story in the summer of 2027 once Van Dijk’s contract is up, but any chance of a return in 2026 doesn’t make sense for the player.Join Our NewsletterReceive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox