Moisés Caicedo wasn’t the only transfer battle Liverpool now looks to have won last summer

During the summer, Liverpool and Chelsea had numerous battles in the transfer market, particularly over Moisés Caicedo and Roméo Lavia. But their competition didn’t stop at midfielders.

Liverpool also aimed to bring in a defender early in the transfer window. They were interested in a left-sided center-back who could provide backup for Virgil van Dijk and lighten his workload as the future Liverpool captain.

One of Liverpool’s top contenders for the role was Levi Colwill, who had an exceptional season at Brighton. In early July, 90min reported that Liverpool was planning to make a move for the Chelsea defender after his loan spell at Brighton.

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However, Liverpool was ultimately unable to secure a deal with Chelsea due to the high price. Colwill instead signed a contract extension with Chelsea, which was seen as a setback at the time. Interestingly, Colwill revealed in an interview with Goal that his childhood idol was none other than Steven Gerrard.

Looking back, Liverpool can argue that, similar to Caicedo and Lavia, they have had the last laugh regarding the Colwill deal. Instead of paying a hefty fee to Chelsea, Liverpool promoted academy graduate Jarell Quansah, who impressed during pre-season and has continued his strong performance in the 2023/24 campaign.

Quansah seamlessly transitioned to the first team and received praise for his standout performance against Bournemouth, earning the Man of the Match award. Despite facing challenging conditions against a tough opponent away from home, Quansah displayed remarkable composure and maturity, as he has done throughout the season.

In every game he has played so far, Quansah has consistently delivered exceptional performances beyond his years. He has consistently completed the most passes on the pitch in his last three starts for Liverpool.

From his game reading abilities to his contribution in initiating attacks, as well as his mature defending, Quansah fulfills all the criteria of Jürgen Klopp’s desired playing style for defenders. This is why Liverpool can be pleased with their decision not to pursue Colwill during the summer.

If Liverpool had signed Colwill, they may have never discovered the potential of Quansah, who could become as good as the Chelsea defender in the future. Despite the turbulence of last summer’s transfer window for both Liverpool and Chelsea, the Reds seem to be the ones with the last laugh based on their impressive start to the season.