Jarell Quansah has had to settle for limited game-time this season but was handed a long-term contract by Liverpool in the early days of Arne Slot's reign as manager
Liverpool aren't ruling out selling Jarell Quansah less than a year after he signed a new long-term contract. Quansah, 22, has only started seven games for the Reds since the turn of the year, the last five of which have been defeats.
The defender made his breakthrough last season under Jurgen Klopp and new manager Arne Slot gave him a start in his very first game at newly-promoted Ipswich Town in August. Unfortunately for Quansah, he was unceremoniously hooked by Slot at half-time.
Despite his struggles, Liverpool chiefs still had the belief that Quansah, who's been called up by England three times without making his debut, would be an asset for years to come. That's why the decision was made to hand the academy product a long-term contract in October, reportedly keeping him tied down until 2029.
But things appear to have changed. Sky Germany report that Quansah has interest from clubs in the Bundesliga and Premier League.
They add that Liverpool haven't ruled out a sale, with their defence set to undergo a significant change in the summer transfer window. In anticipation of Trent Alexander-Arnold's exit, the Reds have agreed a deal to sign right-back Jeremie Frimpong on a five-year contract after informing Bayer Leverkusen that they plan to pay his £29.5million release clause.
Right-back is a position that Quansah, a central defender by trade, has featured regularly in under Slot. But the Dutchman's faith wavered towards the end of the campaign, with midfielder Curtis Jones being used there when both Conor Bradley and Alexander-Arnold were out injured.
Liverpool were also interested in signing Real Madrid-bound Bournemouth defender Dean Huijsen for £50m, suggesting that they're looking to sign centre-back. Thanks to being a homegrown player, Quansah's sale would greatly boost Liverpool's already comfortable financial position, with Newcastle reportedly big fans of the 22-year-old.
Slot has, though, praised Quansah's mentality and would seemingly have no problem having the Warrington-born prospect in his squad next season. "Ibou [Konate] and Virgil [van Dijk] were and are such a strong combination that he didn't play a lot," Slot acknowledged in March after his latest England call-up.
"But every time he had to play, except for maybe the first one or two games, but afterwards he had to play you could see that maybe he is no longer a talent because as a talent you don't have any setbacks, but the moment you get setbacks it's about you and how you react. I think he showed in his recent performances that he's outgrown being called a talent.
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"That's probably what Thomas Tuchel saw and sees as well by giving him a call-up. He did really well the last few times he had to play for us and even in a position he's not completely used to as a right full-back.
"But in my opinion, he has also the qualities to play in that position. He's strong, he's fast, he's very comfortable with the ball and it gives us an extra quality if we play him, which we saw [against Paris Saint-Germain], in terms of set-pieces because he was the one that was this far away from us qualifying for the next round by heading the ball onto the post, because that one was not offside.
"He showed mentality and that he had quality. That's already what we knew when we saw him playing last season."