Liverpool now have unexpected player who has silenced summer transfer fears

Jarell Quansah celebrates with Liverpool team-mates before his late goal is disallowed during the UEFA Europa League Group E match at Toulouse on November 9 2023

It was the realisation of what some Liverpool supporters in the summer believed would be a nightmare situation. And, just to make matters worse, Anthony Taylor was slap bang in the middle of it.

The decision of the referee to show Ibrahima Konate a second yellow card and subsequent red towards the end of the Premier League defeat at Arsenal on Sunday didn’t just raise the heckles of those, including Jurgen Klopp, who regarded it an inconsistent call.

The dismissal also ruled Konate out of Saturday’s visit of Burnley. And with Joel Matip sidelined for the rest of the season with an ACL injury and Joe Gomez having excelled when being required elsewhere in the team in recent months, it left Virgil van Dijk as Liverpool’s one available centre-back to have played regularly in the role this term.

There could easily have been shades of three years previous when, with Van Dijk, Gomez and Matip out and Dejan Lovren having left, the Reds had to swoop for centre-backs Ozan Kabak and Ben Davies with underwhelming results. Indeed, Liverpool had long been linked with a pre-emptive move for a central defender throughout last summer’s transfer window, but ultimately opted to keep their powder dry, much to the consternation of some.

However, barely an eyebrow was raised when the senior options at the heart of Liverpool’s rearguard were reduced further by Konate’s red card.

The reason? Jarell Quansah.

The Academy graduate will be a strong option to replace the suspended Konate having proven the breakthrough star from the youth ranks this term. Remarkable to think that, before the campaign, Quansah hadn’t kicked a competitive ball for the Reds, although he had been an unused substitute on three occasions going as far back as December 2021.

This time last year the defender was preparing for only his third-ever senior outing having only recently moved to League One side Bristol Rovers on loan for the second half of last season.

The signs, though, had already been there that Quansah was a Liverpool first-team player in the making. He skippered the under-18 team that was beaten at Aston Villa in the FA Youth Cup final in 2021, and last May was a regular for England in the U20 World Cup before they were beaten by Italy in the last 16 after a controversial penalty call against the Reds youngster.

And the composure and confidence – as well as required defensive nous and ability in possession – shown by Quansah since being given a Liverpool debut late on at Newcastle United in August has belied his relative inexperience. He has looked at home at the highest level.

There has even been a first goal in the Europa League defeat to Union Saint-Gilloise having had a potential dramatic late equaliser controversially chalked off at Toulouse earlier in the tournament.

His impact is such that it’s easy to forget Quansah, with only three Premier League starts and 17 Liverpool performances overall, is still at the very start of his journey, as was referenced by Klopp ahead of the visit of Chelsea last week when asked about the impact of Conor Bradley.

“Why is Quansah never mentioned in this moment?” came the response from the Reds boss. “It’s all fine. I love Conor as well, but Quansah only turned 21 yesterday. It happens constantly. I’m just surprised about it”

Those tender years are worth remembering when Quansah inevitably hits a bump in the road during his still fledgling Liverpool career. But everything about his temperament suggests the youngster will take it in his stride.

Gomez, having featured at full-back in recent weeks, could become an option to line-up alongside Van Dijk against Burnley if both Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold start together for the first time in four months. But that there won’t even be the mildest concern should Quansah be given the nod highlights the esteem in which the Academy graduate is already being held.