He has turned heads in the preseason leading up to this season and has established himself in the first team.
With Joel Matip out injured, one player who has been getting more opportunities to play is 21-year-old defender Jarell Quansah.
He is from Warrington, just between Liverpool and Manchester, but was brought up in Liverpool’s academy from the age of five.
He is a modern center back with a well-rounded physique, height, speed, and umami, and although it is still early days, he is a promising prospect who is expected to become a defensive leader in the back line in the future.
He is likely to get even more playing time next season with Matip’s imminent departure.
The team has some of the best center backs in the world, including Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, and Joe Gomez.
The young defender confessed that he likes to watch them and other defenders play and said he is a visual learner.
“Virg talks you through the game when you’re in it,”
“Before the game, he’s telling you about opposition strikers and what to expect: what their strengths are, what they tend to do in certain situations. As captain of the team, he sets the standards.”
“All of the other centre-backs have helped me in different ways. Ibou’s (Konate) one-v-one defending is so special. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. The same with Joel, with the way he steps in and drives forward with the ball, how he breaks lines and picks the right pass. It’s just a great learning experience for me.”
“I just love watching how different defenders defend,”
“I’m a visual learner, so I’m always looking at how they deal with certain situations and I try to implement it myself. No matter who I watch, I can pick little things up quite quickly.”
The Athletic