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Liverpool center-back Jarell Quansah in action for England U21s.(Image: Image Photo Agency/Getty Images)

Liverpool are now prioritising a young centre-back to replace Jarell Quansah as the England Under-21 international closes in on a £35m move to Bayer Leverkusen.

But sporting director Richard Hughes and head coach Arne Slot are prepared to bide their time over adding to their defensive ranks after an explosive start to the summer window that has already seen close to £150m forked out for £116m Florian Wirtz - who is expected to complete his move imminently - and Jeremie Frimpong, who joined for £29m at the start of the month.

Dialogue between Liverpool and Leverkusen, which has been nonstop all summer over Wirtz and Frimpong, has been further ongoing in recent days over a deal for Quansah and talks are understood to now be at an advanced stage as the Bundesliga side go about spending the windfall from Anfield.



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Jonathan Tah joined Bayern Munich on a free transfer at the beginning of the month and Quansah has been identified at the BayArena as the player to fill the void at centre-half by sporting director Simon Rolfes and new boss Erik ten Hag.

He will become the most expensive arrival in Leverkusen history should the transfer go through.

Quansah only signed a new, long-term deal in early October but having made a giant stride forward to first-team stardom in Jurgen Klopp's final season in charge, ending it as first choice alongside captain Virgil van Dijk - and scoring in the former manager's last match, at home to Wolves - the 24/25 campaign was less progressive.

Quansah only started one Premier League game in his preferred position prior to the Reds wrapping up the title in late April, which came in the opening-weekend win at Ipswich where he was taken off at half time for Ibrahima Konate.

He featured for less than 500 minutes of last season, making just 13 appearances in the league.

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The ECHO understands that Quansah's possible exit won't see a deviation from the transfer strategy for their centre-back department, with the Reds continuing to assess the merits of less experienced defenders with huge potential.

Two summers ago, Levi Colwill was admired before it was decided he would stay put at parent club Chelsea on the back of a successful loan spell at Brighton & Hove Albion before attention was turned to Leny Yoro at Lille last year.

The teenager was also courted by Real Madrid before opting to move to Manchester United, who were able to offer more assurances over regular first-team football at the time.

Bournemouth's Dean Huijsen was a target for Liverpool earlier this summer before his £50m move to Real Madrid, whom he made his debut for alongside Trent Alexander-Arnold in Wednesday night's 1-1 draw with Al-Hilal at the Club World Cup in the United States.

Marc Guehi, of Crystal Palace, is admired at Anfield and the England international is inside the final 12 months of his contract with the FA Cup winners, meaning a deal could be arranged if a relatively cut-price agreement can be reached.

The Eagles, who withstood strong interest from Newcastle for Guehi by turning down as many as four bids last year, are reportedly now planning to strike a club-record £40m deal for Sporting defender Ousmane Diomande.

England star Guehi turns 25 in less than a month, however, and it's unclear as a result how much Liverpool's interest will progress this window as they seek to bring in a defender with the room to eventually become a mainstay of the defence after Virgil van Dijk walks away.

The Reds skipper turns 34 next month and signed a two-year extension in April.

Liverpool remain relaxed in the short term about their search for another centre-back and feel they have ample coverage already in the squad, should an ideal candidate fail to emerge from the younger market.

Ibrahima Konate is inside the final year of his terms on Merseyside, with Real Madrid and Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain reportedly retaining an interest.

Talks remain ongoing over a new contract for the France international at Anfield.

Quansah had been wanted by Newcastle earlier this year but Liverpool were reluctant to do business with a Premier League rival and rejected an approach over the Warrington-born defender last summer as the Magpies attempted frantically to resolve their Profit and Sustainability problems by entering into talks over winger Anthony Gordon.

A sale for Quansah would be a major boost for Liverpool’s PSR figures, with the academy-trained player representing 'pure profit' on the books as a big-spending summer continues with £45m-rated Milos Kerkez, of Bournemouth, wanted at left-back.

The 22-year-old Quansah is currently in Slovakia for the Young Lions' European Championship campaign and spoke about his career to date after a goalless draw with the hosts, saying: “It’s definitely developing, I’m not getting too high or too low.

"I can take massive learnings from the three seasons I’ve been in professional football, from Bristol to now.
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