22 September 2023 , 12:01
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Jurgen Klopp is backing Jarell Quansah to become a star for club and country after the young defender gatecrashed Liverpool's first-team plans.
Despite there being much talk over the summer about a potential defensive arrival, Liverpool's four additions in the past few months were all in midfield. Defensive strength in depth has been a concern for supporters as a result, but Quansah has excelled when called upon as the Reds have suffered availability issues at the back.
Ibrahima Konate stepped out of the team for a short while after picking up an injury in the 3-1 win over Bournemouth, and skipper Virgil van Dijk was then banned for two games for his red card and subsequent reaction during the victory at Newcastle. Trent Alexander-Arnold then suffered a hamstring issue in the win over Aston Villa, forcing Joe Gomez to cover at right-back.
That created a spot for Quansah to shine, and after coming on in the wins over Newcastle and Villa, the 20-year-old made his first Premier League start in last weekend's win at Wolves, after which Andy Robertson, his captain on the day, called him Liverpool's man of the match.
The Reds were believed to be looking for a young, athletic defender in the transfer market this summer, with Chelsea's Levi Colwill widely known to be their preferred target, but in Quansah they might just have saved themselves millions on a player that Klopp believes could be knocking on the England door very soon.
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Quansah impressed in the 3-1 win at Wolves (MI News/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock)“He is at the right moment at the right club, he is our boy, a fantastic boy, one with huge interest (for) England, massive, massive competition," said Klopp of the Warrington-born centre-back. "Played a super season last season (on loan at Bristol Rovers) and so deserved to start against Wolves.
"Some people may say it was a brave decision (to pick him) I didn’t see it as a brave decision. We knew his strengths, he did really well and I like it a lot. You could see the smile on his face after the game - he now has three games under his belt and that’s nine points I think, so not a bad record.”
Ben Doak started Liverpool's 3-1 win at LASK in Austria (Nigel Keene/ProSports/REX/Shutterstock)Quansah's elevation into the first-team comes at a time when Liverpool are looking youthful and vibrant, with the latest example coming on Thursday when Klopp made 11 changes to his side - including giving starts to 17-year-old Ben Doak and 18-year-old Stefan Bajcetic - for the 3-1 Europa League win at LASK in Austria.
On the youngsters, Klopp said: "At the early stages of the season when everybody is fit then the very young boys probably won’t have much game time, but when you are 17, 18, 19 it is not a problem. It is nice to get a game here or there but it is much more important that you are really ready for it.
So it is not there to show they are nearly there, it is to show when they are really ready, then it makes no difference when you look back at the end of your career and your debut was in Sept 23 or Sept 24. So it doesn’t matter.
"In that time people think it makes a massive difference but when you look back it makes no difference. So it is about being as successful as possible, that is the most important, but to use the player in the perfect moment for them."