Ex-Liverpool star Jarell Quansah emerges as shock Arsenal target amid William Saliba fears

Ex-Liverpool star Jarell Quansah emerges as shock Arsenal target amid William Saliba fears

Arsenal are in the market for a new central defender this summer with William Saliba currently injured, and Jarell Quansah is the latest name to be linked with the Premier League champions

Arsenal have opened talks with Bayer Leverkusen over a deal to bring former Liverpool defender Jarell Quansah back to the Premier League in a bid to strengthen their defence.

The Gunners are in the market for another central defender amid fears that William Saliba faces months on the sidelines in order to recover from the back injury that plagued him during the World Cup. Arsenal have already been linked with a host of players this summer including Ezri Konsa. However, they and Aston Villa are said to be some way apart when it comes to their respective valuations of the 28-year-old.

With the new Premier League season now just one week away, it seems Arsenal are considering other options in the market - including one of Konsa's England team-mates.

According to The Sun, Quansah has emerged as a surprise target for the champions, just 12 months after quitting Anfield to move to Germany.

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It's claimed the 23-year-old is keen on the idea of returning to the Premier League, though Leverkusen will not sell Quansah unless they receive a significant increase on the £30million sum they parted with to sign him last summer. Such a deal could still come in cheaper than meeting Villa's demands for Konsa, who they are understood to value at around £60m.

Quansah's versatility is an added bonus for Arsenal and their manager, Mikel Arteta, with the Liverpool academy graduate also able to deputise to right-back. He was picked to fill in for the injured Reece James during the World Cup, although his tournament was marred by the red card he received during the round-of-16 triumph over Mexico.

Arsenal are also in the market for an elite left winger, as they bid to level up the team that can within a whisker of clinching a Premier League and Champions League double last season.

Morgan Rogers and Vinicius Junior were touted as ambitious targets earlier in the summer, but the former joined Chelsea in a blockbuster transfer worth £117m, while Vinicius put pen to paper on a new contract with Real Madrid last week.

Rogers is one of four players to have moved for a fee in excess of £100m this summer, with Arteta admitting that the amount of nine-figure transfers had taken him by surprise on Friday. He said: "Yes it has, yeah. I wouldn't bet on that to be fair. But that's the market, that means that there are clubs that are happy to invest or they believe the valuations of players are that and that's fair.

"At the end, the value of the player is what somebody can pay for you. They've done it so that's the value and it is the right one because someone is happy to sell and someone is happy to buy. In the middle a player is happy to move from one club to the other so I think that's fair."

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