If Liverpool hold their nerve over the final months of the campaign, fans’ wildest dreams will be realised.
Arne Slot, in his first year, is on course to claim the Premier League title and end four years of Manchester City dominance. Liverpool are 12 points clear at the summit, need just five wins from nine to seal the deal.
However, the future is hazy. Trent Alexander-Arnold is set to join Real Madrid when his contract expires, while Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah are nearing the end, albeit there is more optimism that the experienced duo will extend.
There’s more, though. Liverpool are a team of many parts and suitors are beginning to sniff around for other members of the Merseyside squad.
Jarell Quansah is the latest name to be linked with a move away, and to a divisional rival at that.
Latest interest in Jarell Quansah
Quansah made quite the impression at Liverpool last season, promoted to regular action by Jurgen Klopp after the career-ending injury Joel Matip picked up in December 2023.
He’s found it tough under new management this term, substituted at half-time on Liverpool’s opening-day win over Ipswich Town, but has found a greater number of chances to impress in recent weeks.
And anyway, Quansah, 21, was described as an “absolute monster” of a centre-half by talent scout Jacek Kulig after one display against Arsenal last term, underscoring his value.
His ability, however, hasn’t gone unnoticed, with Newcastle United recently adding the Liverpool talent to their shortlist ahead of an important summer window.
While Liverpool are planning to include Quansah for the 2025/26 campaign, there is the matter of Alexander Isak to consider. Newcastle’s star striker is one of the hottest properties in world football, valued in excess of £150m, and bargaining chips might be called into play.
Look, he’s ebbed and flowed with Slot at the helm, but Quansah proved in his breakout year that his high-ceilinged potential is something worth investing in for Liverpool.
Matches (starts)
17 (13)
Goals
2
Touches*
76.5
Pass completion
89%
Dribble success
57%
Ball recoveries*
4.5
Tackles + interceptions*
2.5
Clearances*
2.3
Duels won*
4.5 (64%)
However, Isak’s got a rather high bar himself, and Liverpool may well find the Sweden star the perfect solution to their attacking maladies.
Given that the Reds might already have an even bigger defensive talent than Quansah waiting in the wings, cashing in might not actually be the worst idea in the world.
Liverpool may have a bigger talent than Quansah
You’re there, on the touchline, riddled with anxiety as you hear the confirmation. It’s time, your professional debut. The nerves, the frissons of fear and energy and excitement. It’s the stuff of dreams; will it be a goal? A match-winning tackle? A key contribution to flame the roar of the fans.
In Amara Nallo’s case, none of the above applied. In fact, Liverpool’s teenage defender was sent off just four minutes into his professional debut, brought on in the closing stages during the January defeat against PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League.
It’s the stuff of nightmares, but teach ’em while they are young and all that. Nallo’s first taste of senior life isn’t indicative of his prodigious potential, and the positive is that the only way from here is up.
For sure, the 18-year-old will rue the European fixture for many years to come, but he’s been hailed as a “leader and top performer” for the development squad by reporter Jack Lusby and could be a future mainstay in Slot’s first team.
Liverpool signed Nallo from West Ham United in September 2023, when he was 16. Highly sought-after, the teenage defender was hailed as a “Rolls-Royce of a centre-back” by West Ham coach Carlton Cole,
He’d already made two appearances for the Hammers’ U18 set-up when Liverpool came a-calling, enjoying this breakthrough as he completed secondary school studies.
In The Pipeline
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However, it’s on Merseyside where he’s truly blossomed into one of the most exciting young talents in England. This is evidenced through Nallo’s five outings for the Reds’ U18s, compared with a whopping 35 displays for the U21s, impressing so much that he has of course earned minutes in the Champions League.
A two-footed defender, Nallo has the quality on the ball and the powerful physique to earn regular opportunities in Slot’s Liverpool, surely bearing the skills to emulate Quansah in this regard and step up to the plate.
No doubt, he’ll earn chances to impress through Liverpool’s pre-season preparations, especially if Joe Gomez is also to be sold at the end of the season, as has been on the rumour mill after the England international’s move to Newcastle fell through last summer.
Van Dijk, hopefully, will not be leaving this summer, not only because he’s the best defender in the world but because his continuing presence in the rearguard could be invaluable for a youngster like Nallo as he takes tentative steps toward the fore.
Nallo started his senior career on unsteady footing, but there’s a reason Slot gave him the opportunity to impress in the first place. The Dutch tactician commented that the youth “will learn” from his blunder and come back stronger.
He will no doubt be seeking to emulate Quansah in stepping into the first-team fold and thriving, and if his positional peer is sold this summer to help facilitate a player-plus-cash deal, he will relish the opportunity to right the blot on his maiden career and stake his claim.
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