Liverpool have been pretty good when it comes to transfers over the past decade.
Michael Edwards and Jurgen Klopp combined to take Liverpool away from the pit in which it had been stuck for several years – the Luis Suarez-led 2013/14 campaign being an outlier – snapping up the likes of Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson and Sadio Mane for modest fees and turning them into superstars.
Klopp had an eye for potential to be sure, and so when he draped the curtain on his legendary tenure at the end of the 2024/25 season, FSG needed to get it right in finding a replacement.
Well, Arne Slot’s enjoyed quite the debut campaign at Anfield, with Liverpool seemingly cruising to the Premier League title. While the Dutchman inherited a first-class squad, his tactical acumen has been showcased through the improvements made to several stars.
Liverpool's most-improved players under Slot
Where could we start if not with Ryan Gravenberch? The breezy midfielder, Klopp’s final first-team signing, drifted through his first term on Merseyside but has come alive in Slot’s system, essential as the nucleus of the engine room.
Reporter Ian McKennedy has said ‘his impact has been immense’ after efforts to sign Martin Zubimendi fell flat last summer. But he certainly hasn’t been the only one.
His compatriot, Cody Gakpo, might have been overshadowed up front by Ballon d’Or-chasing Salah, but he’s still been reborn in a streamlined role, matching last season’s goal tally of 16 having played around 1,000 fewer minutes. Slot stopped Gakpo’s bounce-around positional deployment and instead unleashed him on the left flank.
Centre-forward
27
12
3
Left winger
12
3
3
Right winger
7
1
0
Central midfield
7
0
0
Then, of course, there’s been Dominik Szoboszlai, a player who ebbed and flowed last year but has really come alive in 2025, bringing matchless energy and a fast-improving eye for goal, with five of his seven goals for Slot bagged since December.
There are many more, all meeting new standards and charging the multi-front title bids. It’s no surprise such players’ stocks have risen, but there’s another, somewhat more peripheral member of the senior squad whose value has shot up remarkably since Slot’s advent.
He’s got much more to prove, but he’s starting to come into his own.
The Liverpool player whose value has risen 580%
Liverpool may not have tasted true transfer investment with Slot at the helm yet, but his man-management skills suggest that he has dovetailed right into the way of things. Richard Hughes and co are bound to bring players in who will be elevated by his managerial expertise.
Market Movers
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However, this is true internally too. Take Jarell Quansah, for example, a player who might have had a rocky start to the season but is beginning to reach the remarkable level achieved last year, his first term within top-flight football.
Talent scout Jacek Kulig described the 22-year-old as an “absolute monster” for his efforts under Klopp, and indeed, he thrived, even displacing Ibrahima Konate throughout the final months of the season, starting ten of the final 15 Premier League games.
There is clearly a view within Liverpool’s hierarchy that Quansah has the potential to become a real star over the coming years, for he signed a long-term contract with the club back in October after his exemplary breakout year.
Quansah might not have got off to the best start under Slot’s wing, withdrawn at half-time in Liverpool’s Premier League opener against Ipswich Town and not tasting top-flight football again until December, but he’s made positive progress over the past few months.
Against Wolves last month, for example, his second-half cameo was crucial in helping the under-par Reds scrape over the line and add three more points to the haul.
Last season’s efforts delineate his quality: as per FBref, Quansah ranked among the top 3% of centre-backs in the Premier League last term for goals scored, the top 4% for passes attempted, the top 15% for progressive passes and the top 11% for aerial duels won per 90.
A pass is considered progressive if the distance between the starting point and the next touch is at least 10 meters closer to the opponent’s goal or any completed pass into the penalty area.
Impressively, Konate was noted by FBref as one of the talent’s most statistically comparable players too.
Furthermore, the England U21 international won a whopping 64% of his duels in the top flight last season, as per Sofascore. For a first-time up-and-comer, this is quite the feat. Konate won 66%.
There’s so much to be excited about, not least as Slot has acknowledged the centre-half’s resilience in bouncing back over the past few months after “a bit of a hard time” during the early knockings of the campaign. Indeed, the gaffer hailed him last month for being “back to being the same Jarell.”
And when he’s already rising steadily from a financial standpoint, it’s rather daunting to imagine just how good he could become with sustained development in Slot’s system.
As per Football Transfers, Quansah was only valued at about £2.5m when Slot replaced Klopp in the Liverpool dugout last summer, but there’s since been a steep upswing, with his updated February market value touted at £17m, which equates to a 580%
In actuality, it doesn’t seem probable FSG would allow their talented young defender to leave for such a modest sum, not least since he’s penned a new long-term contract worth £30k per week.
Virgil van Dijk is out of a deal at the end of the season, and though Liverpool are pushing to retain their captain’s services for the next few years, Quansah is viewed as a potential internal successor in the long run.
He’s got the quality, athleticism and commitment, and now just needs to springboard to the next level and blossom even further toward the fore.
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