Arsenal Pursues Jarell Quansah from Bayer Leverkusen
Arsenal have opened talks with Bayer Leverkusen over a move for England defender Jarell Quansah, as Mikel Arteta pushes to reinforce a back line already creaking before a ball has been kicked.
The 23-year-old has just returned to Leverkusen after an extended break following his first World Cup, where he made three appearances for England. His stock has risen sharply over the past 12 months – and Leverkusen know it.
They signed him from boyhood club Liverpool only last summer for around £30m. He responded with 44 appearances in his debut Bundesliga season, adapting quickly to a new country, a new league and a new role on the right of a back three. Leverkusen have been impressed not just by his performances, but by the maturity with which he handled the move.
That’s why they don’t want to sell. With four years left on his contract, they hold all the cards. Any deal would mean Arsenal paying significantly more than the £30m Leverkusen invested last July. This is not a bargain-bin opportunity; it’s a premium asset in a strong negotiating position.
Arsenal’s defensive puzzle
Arteta’s interest is clear. He wants cover and competition at centre-back with William Saliba out injured, but the problems don’t stop there. Right-back has become a sore spot.
Jurrien Timber is still working his way back from the groin issue that has largely kept him out since March. Ben White has his own patchy injury record. The depth was exposed brutally in Budapest, where Cristhian Mosquera had to start the Champions League final out of position at right-back and ended up conceding a penalty.
That night still lingers. It underlines why Arsenal are scouring the market for someone who can plug more than one gap.
Ezri Konsa has been on the radar, yet Aston Villa’s valuation for a 28-year-old has been deemed too high. Quansah, five years younger and already an England international, offers a different profile and potentially better value across the next decade.
Why Quansah fits Arteta’s idea
Quansah is a centre-back by trade, but Leverkusen often used him on the right of a back three. His passing map from last season shows him regularly stepping into zones that look very much like a traditional right-back area.
That positional flexibility convinced Thomas Tuchel to take him to the World Cup as one of his right-back options for England – ahead of Trent Alexander-Arnold. That selection said plenty about how top coaches view his adaptability and defensive reliability.
At Arsenal, once Saliba returns to full fitness and resumes his partnership with Gabriel at the heart of defence, Quansah would not simply be squeezed out. He would have a fight on his hands for minutes in a different role, especially on that right side.
Arteta’s full-backs are not old-school touchline huggers. Timber and Riccardo Calafiori are often asked to drift into central areas, sometimes stepping so high and narrow they resemble hybrid centre forwards. It’s a demanding, complex job.
Yet Arteta has already shown, with another former Leverkusen defender in Piero Hincapie, that he can integrate more defensively minded full-backs into his structure. Quansah, with his grounding as a centre-back and experience in a back three, fits that template of a defender who can slide across the line and still hold his own in wide areas.
Timing, pressure and the calendar
The clock is not exactly on Arsenal’s side. Their early-season schedule is unforgiving.
They face Manchester City in the Community Shield in Cardiff on August 16. The Premier League campaign begins at home to Coventry on August 21, live on Sky Sports, before a tricky trip to Aston Villa on August 31, also under the lights. Chelsea visit the Emirates on September 6, then comes a journey to Sunderland on September 12.
Those fixtures demand a defence that can absorb injuries, rotation and tactical tweaks. Arteta knows he cannot go into that run with the same fragility that haunted them in Europe.
Leverkusen may not want to sell. Arsenal may have to stretch well beyond £30m. But with gaps at centre-back, concerns at right-back and a brutal start to the season looming, how long can they afford to wait?
