Jarell Quansah has admitted that it’s been hard for him to watch on from the sidelines so much this season but is eager to impress when given a chance by Arne Slot.
The England youth international, who started the first game of the season at Ipswich but has since had to settle for a spot behind Ibou Konate in the pecking order, could be given a spot in the starting XI when Liverpool travel to Brighton in the League Cup tomorrow.
The 21-year-old shined when called upon by Jurgen Klopp on numerous occasions last term and was rewarded with a new long-term contract by the Reds earlier this month.
Speaking to Liverpoolfc.com, the Warrington-born talent has spoke about how he’s ‘staying ready’ for any opportunities that may come his way.
“People probably don’t see it. It’s really tough mentally when you’re not playing and obviously physically you’ve got to sort of train [like] how many metres you’d run in games and stuff like this,” our No.78 said. “It’s really physically demanding and the amount of gym work you do, it’s really tough. But it’s all about staying ready and you never know when your opportunity will come. It’s just staying ready for anything.”
Although Quansah is a highly-talented defender with bags of potential, he’s grounded enough to know that he’s got two world-class defenders ahead of him at Liverpool.
The youngster is seeing the positives from the situation he currently finds himself in, however.
Virgil van Dijk has become recognised as the best defender in the world by many since joining the Reds in January 2018 while Konate has also become a huge fan favourite during his three years on Merseyside.
“You’ve just got to look in front of you and say you’ve got two of the best centre-backs in the world ahead of you,” Quansah added. “It’s a joy watching them play, to be honest. But as long as I can try to push them as far as they can go, and they’re always pushing me to try to be a better player, it’ll breed a good environment around the squad.
“The way both of them have marshalled the back line and done so well, it’s always good to see. I’m not really a jealous person, it just shows me what I need to do to get there. I’m always learning off them, even if I’m on the bench just watching them play, watching them train, just seeing what I can take from their game really. Hopefully I can be in a position to really fight for the spot.”
Quansah certainly has a future at the club and will only benefit from training alongside and watching the likes of Van Dijk and Konate.
He made 33 appearances last term for the Reds (across all competitions) – scoring three goals and registering three assists.
His time will come, but for now it’s a case of being patient and impressing when called upon.
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