By Lewis Thompson
When Jarell Quansah joined Jurgen Klopp’s 32-man squad in Germany for the Reds’ pre-season, not many would have predicted the path he would follow.
Fast forward three months and the youngster has a last-minute goal harshly disallowed in the Europa League, following back-to-back starts in the Carabao Cup for his boyhood club.
Klopp said he was initially ‘surprised’ with Quansah’s swift rise through the ranks, but those previously involved with the Warrington-born 20-year-old already knew of his potential.
After 15 years at Liverpool’s academy, Quansah joined League One club Bristol Rovers – on loan in January 2023 – and earned 16 appearances before representing England at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Argentina.
When Rovers’ first-team coach, Danny Venture, had Quansah at his disposal he knew the defender would be a star in the future…
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Speaking to The Redmen TV exclusively, Danny said:
“You could just see from the moment he landed on the pitch – his qualities or the attributes he had and the potential – that he was going to be a future star.
“You see the young kids come through the door and you always question, I wonder what they’re going to be like. But since Jarell walked through the door, you could see, there was a presence about him.
“As a person he was a great kid, he always said good morning, good afternoon, and asked questions.”
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Paul Coutts – former Sheffield United, Preston North End and Rovers midfielder – captained Quansah when the loanee made his senior debut at the end of January this year.
Coutts recalled advising Quansah to get a haircut due to his struggles with heading.
He said: “We were always on him about getting a haircut because he couldn’t head the ball in the back of the net. He had so many chances of set plays and he had like a SpongeBob head, kept nodding them over.
“So he’s not quite taken everything on because he’s still not got a haircut yet but yeah, he did do well and he was improving. You could see him improving week on week and when he was going back, he sort of was becoming more of a man.
“He was open to learning and keen to improve, at the end of the day that’s what he was there for to enhance his career, get some game time and expose himself to those sorts of situations.
“It’s a credit to him for going out to do that and he took the mistakes well.”
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With a hectic Christmas period looming as Liverpool play Fulham, Sheff United and Crystal Palace in a six-day window – sandwiched between European fixtures vs LASK and Royale Union Saint-Gilloise – it is likely the number 78 will be depended on more than ever.
Jarell Quansah – the SpongeBob in our team?
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