Sometimes the best business is the business you plan for years in advance. Liverpool's decision to include a buyback clause in Jarell Quansah's £35m move to Bayer Leverkusen last summer now looks like the kind of forward thinking that separates smart clubs from the rest.

With Konate's departure to Real Madrid all but confirmed after contract talks hit an insurmountable wall, Liverpool suddenly find themselves needing defensive reinforcements. The club had been determined to keep the Frenchman through his peak years, but the gap between what Liverpool offered and what Konate felt he was worth proved too wide to bridge.

It's a disappointing outcome for a player who arrived as a relative unknown from RB Leipzig in 2021 and developed into a Champions League finalist, Premier League winner, and France captain. His evolution at Anfield was remarkable, making his inevitable move to Real Madrid sting all the more for supporters who've watched this story play out before.

But here's where Liverpool's planning might pay dividends. The buyback clause for Quansah sits around the £55m mark, and crucially, the England centre-half has already agreed personal terms on an Anfield contract should the Reds decide to trigger it. No complicated negotiations. No protracted wage discussions. No concerns about pricing themselves out of a deal.

Quansah's journey since leaving Liverpool tells its own story. The Warrington-born defender has flourished in Germany despite a managerial merry-go-round that will see him play under his third boss when he returns for the new season. His reasoning for leaving was refreshingly honest when he spoke in April: "I just wanted to play. I felt like I could play at the top level, the Bundesliga's a top league and being able to play in the Champions League."

You can't argue with that logic. Liverpool sold him with reluctance last summer, recognising they couldn't offer the guaranteed first-team football a promising 22-year-old needed. Now, at 23 and established in the England setup, Quansah represents exactly the type of defender Liverpool hoped he'd become when they let him go.

The timing feels significant. With Jeremy Jacquet arriving from Rennes for £60m on July 1 and Giovanni Leoni already at the club, Liverpool have invested nearly £90m in young defensive talent. Both players carry obvious question marks though. Jacquet is coming off shoulder surgery and turns 21 next month, whilst Leoni's season ended with an ACL injury after just one 80-minute cameo against Southampton.

Expecting either to immediately fill the void left by Konate feels like asking too much, particularly when Liverpool have other areas crying out for attention. The right-back situation remains problematic, with Jeremie Frimpong yet to convince and Conor Bradley still finding his way back from the knee injury that ended his campaign in January.

This is where Quansah's buyback option becomes particularly attractive. He's no longer the promising academy graduate who needed game time. He's a proven Bundesliga performer who's handled Champions League football and earned England recognition. The risk has been significantly reduced whilst the ceiling remains tantalizingly high.

Liverpool's failure to land Marc Guehi last year looks worse with each passing month. The club may be taking an "opportunistic" approach to centre-back signings this summer, but sometimes opportunity knocks twice. Having Quansah's future already mapped out, complete with agreed terms, eliminates the usual transfer complications.

It's a risky strategy banking on Jacquet and Leoni to immediately compete alongside Van Dijk, but Liverpool may feel they have the perfect insurance policy waiting in Germany. Quansah finds himself in the shop window where his former club are concerned, knowing his next move could be a homecoming that makes perfect sense for everyone involved.

The question now is whether Liverpool will pull the trigger on a deal that could solve their defensive puzzle with minimum fuss and maximum impact.