There’s one thing in common with many of Newcastle United’s reported transfer targets this summer: Premier League experience.
Whether it’s another club’s top star like Marc Guehi and Anthony Elanga, or exciting options like Joao Pedro, Eddie Howe clearly likes a player who has already done it at this level, even if overseas options will exist on our ‘lists’ of options.
On Premier League talent who has been linked in recent months via Fabrizio Romano and The Times is Liverpool’s Jarell Quansah, although the reaction to his possible arrival was not met too kindly on social media.
But, perhaps thankfully, another club looks to have jumped well into the lead in signing the England U21 defender, as reports revealed late last night.
Leverkusen lead race for Quansah
According to David Ornstein at The Athletic, Jarrel Quansah won’t be arriving on Tyneside this summer as he’s now set to join Bayer Leverkusen instead.
The Bundesliga giants, now managed by former Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag, look to have agreed personal terms with the youngster, who seems set on the move.
Ornstein reveals that Leverkusen are now ‘close’ to striking a deal with Liverpool over a fee ‘just north of €40m’, meaning he’ll likely cost at least £35m (GBP).
Quansah was a key part of last June’s PSR saga on Tyneside, with it revealed that we explored a deal to sign the centre-back as Liverpool looked to land Anthony Gordon.
Liverpool would soon offer Joe Gomez in the youngster’s place, before we put the transfer on hold indefinitely with the sales of Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh.
But with ten Hag committed to a strong rebuild at Leverkusen using the money earned through the sales of Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong, it likely won’t be the last big money transfer we see the 2023/24 champions make.
A bullet dodged for Newcastle?
Under Jurgen Klopp, Quansah was showing immense promise, seen as third choice centre back behind Virgil Van Dijk and Ibrahima Konaté and expected to be one to watch for both club and country in the future.
But since Arne Slot’s appointment, Quansah has fallen down the pecking order on Merseyside, and his occasional performances have left a lot to be desired.
It’s no secret how much we need young defenders to support our ageing back line, but compare Quansah to the likes of Guehi and Illia Zabarnyi who we have already been linked with, and it certainly seems as though we’ve dodged a bullet by avoiding paying ~£35m for a Liverpool squad player.
