Liverpool may have Joey Barton to thank as Jurgen Klopp gets transfer solution

Throwing young players into the baptism of fire can often make or break their careers at big clubs. For Jarrell Quansah, he stepped up to the plate on his senior debut with Liverpool staring down the barrel against Newcastle.

The 20-year-old was introduced in place of Joel Matip with 13 minutes remaining of normal time and put in a solid display to keep Newcastle at bay while Darwin Nunez turned the game on its head with two dramatic goals. Nunez stole all the headlines for his cameo off the bench, but Quansah’s performance may have pleased Jurgen Klopp even more.

While Liverpool’s main priority this summer has been to revolutionise their midfield department, it’s been suggested that defensive recruits are also needed. Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate are the first choice centre-backs with fitness doubts on both Joe Gomez and Joel Matip.

The latter has just one year remaining on his contract with Liverpool short of options beyond that. Klopp batted away questions earlier this month about Liverpool’s need for another centre-back by naming Quansah as “a super-talented player as well here available”.

Quansah has spent his entire career with Liverpool having joined the club’s academy at the age of five. Like many academy graduates before him, he’s long been touted for a bright future at Anfield.

Not content with playing reserve football, Quansah sought out regular first team football at the start of the year as he joined Bristol Rovers on a short-term loan. It was after an impressive display at the back for Rovers against promotion-chasing Ipswich Town that saw Joey Barton predict a bright future for the defender.

When asked whether Quansah could play for England’s senior side, Barton said: “I’m mindful of not heaping too much on the kids but, why not? He’s as good on the ball that you’ll need to be in terms of building out from the back. He’s going to get bigger, he’s going to get stronger, he’s going to get faster. His anticipation of the game is going to be better because more senior games get you that.

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“The one concern we had when we brought him in was his heading ability because we knew he could leap, he could score a goal at the back post, but he’s getting well-versed in the physical, aerial contact. But the heading he’s doing from a defensive standpoint is what any senior would be proud of. He has an enormous future in front of him.”

That short spell on loan at Bristol Rovers was quickly followed by an inclusion in the England squad for the U-20 World Cup. His loan away from Anfield as well as his display on the global stage in Argentina saw Klopp stand up and take notice with the young defender featurig heavily in pre-season.

And this past weekend saw Quansah realise a childhood dream by coming on to make his Liverpool debut. Without a successful loan spell at Briston Rovers, Quansah would unlikely have been a consideration for Klopp.

But the centre-back’s work with Barton has clearly worked wonders with Liverpool now reaping the benefits.

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