Liverpool could be entering a period of transition very soon, with several players reaching the latter stages of their careers at Anfield, and this season it has been rather obvious that Jurgen Klopp’s hugely successful squad may be beginning to turn stale.
The Reds are currently ninth in the Premier League table – nine points adrift from a Champions League qualifying place inside the top four – and have been knocked out of both the FA Cup and Carabao Cup after winning both trophies last season.
James Milner, Jordan Henderson, Thiago Alcantara, Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip and Roberto Firmino are all well into their 30s at this point, which led to Klopp fielding the joint-oldest starting XI in the top flight in the Reds’ opening game of the season against Fulham.
When the World Cup put a pause on the Premier League, Liverpool were the sixth-worst team in the division for distance covered in kilometres (1537.6), an indication as to how tired and lacklustre the Merseysiders’ performances have been.
As a result, Klopp and the powerbrokers at Anfield will surely be looking at who could provide the next generation of success in the team and become part of Liverpool’s future, with reinvestment in midfield surely expected in the summer given that several current players’ contracts will expire in June.
The German could also look to academy players and graduates who could start staking their claim to a breakthrough into the first-team after the success that Stefan Bajcetic has had since becoming a recent regular feature in the competitive squad.
The next youth star to potentially be given the opportunity to prove his worth in the first-team is former Liverpool U21s centre-back and current Bristol Rovers loanee Jarell Quansah.
Could Quansah be Virgil van Dijk’s rightful heir?
Indeed, the focus has largely been on the need to refresh in midfield, but with both Matip and Van Dijk now 31, there is definitely an opportunity to start thinking about the next generation of defenders too.
Quansah – who was the captain of Liverpool’s U19s side in the UEFA Youth League – joined Rovers for the second half of the season last month to earn some first-team football after rising through the ranks of the Reds’ academy since he was five years old.
Despite not yet making his senior debut at Anfield, the talented 20-year-old has been named on the bench three times for the first-team and rightfully earned his first professional contract with the club in February 2021.
Across four League One appearances so far, Quansah has tallied an 88% pass completion rate in his own half and successfully completed 100% of his dribbles, along with averaging 68.8 touches, 41.8 accurate passes, 3.3 clearances, 1.8 interceptions, one tackle and five successful duels per game. This shows that he is already showing glimpses of his huge defensive presence on the pitch.
His instant positive impact in the back line has already earned him high praise from his manager Joey Barton, who claimed that Quansah has an “enormous future” when reflecting on the young player’s start at the Memorial Stadium.
The 40-year-old said of the youngster: “The sky’s the limit for him, he can be whatever he wants. Jurgen Klopp doesn’t feel the way he feels about you, training with the first team unless you’re a good player. He has an enormous future in front of him.”
The future is looking bright for Quansah, and if he can keep impressing at Bristol Rovers whilst polishing his skills on loan, there is no reason why he can’t be the heir to Van Dijk that Liverpool will need in seasons to come.