By John Boston
Liverpool defender Jarell Quansah has completed his move to Bayer Leverkusen for £35million on the same day that the Reds rejected an approach from Bayern Munich for striker Luis Diaz.
Warrington-born Quansah joined the Premier League champions as a five-year-old and made a breakthrough to the first team in the latter stages of Jurgen Klopp’s time in charge as Liverpool manager.
The 22-year-old was hoping to establish himself as Virgil van Dijk’s regular defensive partner last season, but he suffered a nightmare start to the campaign after being substituted at half-time during Liverpool’s opening-day win at Ipswich, and failed to establish himself in the first team under Arne Slot after that.
Quansah will instead seek a fresh challenge in the Bundesliga, although the Reds have reportedly placed a buy-back clause into the deal for the England Under-21 international.
A statement on the Liverpool official website read: “Everybody at LFC would like to thank Jarell for his contributions and wish him the very best for the future.”
Leverkusen added on their official X account: “Liv to Lev. Welcome to Bayer 04, Jarell Quansah!”
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Quansah relishing new challenge
Speaking to the German team’s official website after completing his move, Quansah explained the reasons for his decision to leave Liverpool.
He said: “I was able to get a good impression of the team and the club when Liverpool played Leverkusen in the Champions League last season. A brilliant team – for the first hour, they played like almost no other side at Anfield.
“The ambitious targets here were clearly explained to me during the negotiations. It’s a great role and challenge for me to be part of the current Leverkusen rebuild.”
Reds head coach Slot has already had a busy close season in the transfer market and will now seek to strengthen his options at centre-back.
Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi has been the subject of mounting speculation that he could be headed to Merseyside, but there has been no confirmation as yet that transfer talks are underway.
Diaz ‘happy’ at Anfield
In other transfer news, Liverpool have rejected an approach from Bundesliga champions Bayern for Diaz.
Diaz, who has two years left on his contract, played a key role in the Reds’ march to the Premier League title last season, scoring 13 league goals, and has already been the subject of a tentative approach from Barcelona.
Slot, however, has no intention of sanctioning an exit for the 28-year-old Colombia international, and Diaz himself has previously stated he is ‘very happy’ to stay at Anfield.
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Newsjustnews writers 
Geoffrey H. Latayan