Won 7 aerial duels, 95 passes: 'fantastic talent' delivers message to next Liverpool boss

Jarell Quansah delivered a message to the new Liverpool manager on Saturday with a fantastic performance against Burnley. The 21-year-old is going to save the club millions.

Liverpool battled Burnley at Anfield on Saturday with a depleted squad. Jurgen Klopp explained ahead of the game that a flu outbreak had left him without several first-team players and that rotation was now required.

One player who rotated into the starting XI was Jarell Quansah, making just the fourth Premier League start of his career. His performance felt like a proper message to the incoming Liverpool boss.

After all, Quansah is essentially auditioning for a role here. Klopp is a big fan, previously calling him a 'fantastic talent', but a new manager with new ideas is on the way this summer.

Every player needs to impress enough to keep their squad place but it's particularly difficult for someone as unproven as Quansah. That's why his display against Burnley was so important.

No player on the pitch completed as many passes as Quansah (95) and his 120 touches were by far the most in the match. Five clearances saw the defender lead Liverpool again, while his match-high seven successful aerial duels stand out above all.

After all, part of the problem with playing alongside Virgil van Dijk is that opposition players target you, rather than taking on the Dutchman. It means just about every delivery heads your way, given Van Dijk boasts the best aerial success rate in Europe this season.

But Quansah showed he can handle that. He won 88 per cent of his aerial duels, on top of everything else.

There's no question, then, that Quansah can save Liverpool's new manager millions. At the very least, he's shown how he's able to do that as a completely serviceable Premier League centre-back at just 21.

Any new manager is going to be impressed and this is not a player who needs replacing.

Share This Article