Last summer, Liverpool sold Jarell Quansah to Bayer Leverkusen in a £35M deal, with the talented 22-year-old making the switch to the Bundesliga after seeing his opportunities drop off with the Reds following
the departure of manager Jürgen Klopp and the arrival of new boss Arne Slot.
It was a deal that raised eyebrows at the time, and with the player a lock in the starting eleven for Leverkusen and Liverpool now short of options at centre half and eyeing a move for Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi in January, time hasn’t made it look any better. On Monday, Quansah was given his England debut.
“This is one of the greatest days of my life,” Quansah said when he was presented with his first senior cap. “Being part of the group, being perfect in qualifying, it means a lot. I want to thank the coaching staff and all the staff for giving me the opportunity and helping me out. It’s a massive honour.”
Liverpool do at least have a buyback option on Quansah, though the details of when it can be activated and what it would cost to bring back the club trained homegrown player isn’t clear. He is also, according to England boss Thomas Tuchel, currently ahead of another ex-Red in the England pecking order.
“I have a lot of trust in Jarell,” Tuchel said of Quansah’s debut, which came off the bench at right back against Albania and led to the manager being asked about his omission of Trent Alexander-Arnold in his November squad. “I see his talent—he is tall, fast, strong in build-up, strong in the air.
“I saw him very strong playing for Liverpool in this position so I always wanted to try. And he plays every minute for Bayer Leverkusen since playing the U21 Euros. So he is at the moment just a tiny bit ahead [of Alexander-Arnold].”
