Jurgen Klopp has made it crystal clear just how important a part of Liverpool’s first team Jarell Quansah has become.
It was only five months ago that the defender, who turns 21 today, made his senior debut for the Reds, but he’s gone on to play 17 times throughout the season so far (Transfermarkt).
Speaking about the centre-back after the 5-2 win over Norwich on Sunday (via liverpoolfc.com), the manager said: “Quansah, I’m not sure how long we have to talk about him as an Academy [player]. He is, yes, great, but he is now settled I would say [in the senior squad].
“He can still improve of course because of the age but he is an important part of the squad, like they all are.”
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Of all the academy youngsters to have been given first-team minutes by Klopp so far this season, Quansah has featured the most (Transfermarkt) and, as Klopp says, can now be regarded as a senior squad member first and foremost.
It obviously helps to have one of the world’s best positional peers in Virgil van Dijk talking him through matches, but most of the credit for the 21-year-old’s swift rise from debutant to first-team regular must go to the player himself for how commendably he’s adapted to a transition which can trip up many.
Injuries to several other defenders have also helped to elevate the Warrington native quicker than what would’ve been expected a few months ago, but the onus was still on him to seize the opportunity that fate handed to him, and he’s duly done that with aplomb.
The biggest proof that Quansah is now a senior player is that his last under-21 appearance came in mid-August (Transfermarkt), and even with Liverpool now getting other defensive options back from injury, there’s simply no way that he goes back to playing at underage level.
The challenge for him now is to ensure that he stays in the senior squad at Anfield for several seasons, but everything in his performances so far suggests that he’ll emulate Trent Alexander-Arnold and Curtis Jones in doing just that.