Few would have predicted English-born Ghanaian promising defender Jarell Quansah playing such a key role for Liverpool before the season started, but he has now broken a record for game time.
Quansah’s first real involvement with the senior squad came in pre-season, with the centre-back one of 16 players to feature in all five warmup friendlies.
Such was his impact ahead of the campaign that he was promoted to the first team on a full-time basis, and he has now cemented himself as a regular in the side.
Sunday’s 2-1 victory over Brighton saw the 21-year-old made his 21st start for the club and his 26th appearance in total.
In doing so, he broke the record for minutes played in a single season under Jurgen Klopp by any Liverpool academy player not named Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Quansah has now clocked 1,926 minutes on the pitch so far, which is more than the previous highest for Curtis Jones during the 2020/21 season (1,920).
Nat Phillips (1,724 in 2020/21), Jordon Ibe (1,680 in 2015/16) and Rhys Williams (1,350 in 2020/21) make up the rest of the top five – not counting multiple instances for Jones.
While those three players show that regular game time throughout a single season is no guarantee of a long-term future at Liverpool, Quansah appears likely to buck any trend.
Despite an imminent change of manager, the form the Warrington-born defender has shown this season will likely make him a mainstay for years to come.
He has undoubtedly benefited from Joel Matip‘s season-ending injury and ongoing problems for Ibrahima Konate, but the biggest compliment is that whenever his name is on teamsheet, there is never a concern.
Speaking before the victory over Brighton, Klopp told Sky Sports that he has not considered Quansah or Conor Bradley“youngsters” for a long time now.
“I’m not sure actually how long we treated them as ‘youngsters’, I can’t remember anymore when that happened,” he insisted.
“They are just important to us.”
While Konate is expected to come back into contention to start against Sheffield United on Thursday, it is likely that Quansah will still figure prominently in the next two months.
With up to 14 games left to play between now and the end of the season, there is every chance he extends that record by a considerable margin.
Source: thisisanfield.com
