Jarell Quansah earns first England Under-21 call-up

Liverpool centre back Jarell Quansah has been called up to the England Under-21 squad for the first time.

The 20-year-old was named in Lee Carsley's 23-man squad for the clashes against Serbia and Ukraine during the October international break.

Warrington-born Quansah, who has been with Liverpool since the age of five, has made five appearances for Jurgen Klopp's side so far in 2023/24 – three of which have come in the Premier League.

After spending part of the 2022/23 campaign on loan at League One Bristol Rovers, Quansah was promoted to the Reds' first-team setup during the summer and impressed in pre-season.

The young defender made his professional debut off the bench in the 2-1 comeback win over Newcastle and earned a first league start in the 3-1 victory over Wolves.

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Speaking upon the announcement of the squad, Under-21s boss Carsley commented on Quansah's inclusion.

He said, via Englandfootball.com: "We also have Jarell Quansah in the squad for the first time. He’s been getting game time at Liverpool which as we know is a really tough team to get into for any player, so he deserves to be a part of this squad."

Quansah has previously represented England at all youth levels from Under-16 upwards and was a key member of the Three Lions squad that won the UEFA European Under-19 Championships in 2022, even making the team of the tournament.

Quansah is joined in the Under-21 squad by club teammate Harvey Elliot. However, Curtis Jones – who scored the winning goal in the Under-21 European Championship final against Spain this summer – is not included as he has aged out of the setup.

England started their U21 EURO qualification campaign with a 3-0 victory away to Luxembourg last month and Carsley spoke about the benefits of having more time on the training ground with his players in September.

The Young Lions will take on Serbia at the City Ground on Thursday, 12 October before travelling to face Ukraine in Slovakia on Monday, 16 October.

Carsley said: "This is a really tough camp for us, against two teams that are very well respected, and we’ve had to do our homework on them. We’re expecting two really tough games."