Jurgen Klopp, the manager of Liverpool, has acknowledged that the decision to hold off on signing a center-back during the summer transfer window was influenced by the rise of homegrown youngster Jarell Quansah.

Prioritizing midfield acquisitions before the current campaign began, the Reds brought in Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo, and Ryan Gravenberch to take the place of the five center of the field players who departed, including Jordan Henderson and Fabinho for Saudi Arabia.

center-backs Both Rhys Williams and Nat Phillips, who have both had significant first-team positions in the past, were permitted to go on loan to Scottish teams. Quansah had not yet made his Liverpool debut at that time, and it seemed that the Reds could be lacking in defensive depth.

“Jarell played a super game [against LASK], that’s true,” Klopp reflected in the wake of another impressive performance from the 20-year-old in midweek.

“That couldn’t be better news for the club, to be honest. I think before this season a lot of people told us we should buy a centre-half. We knew we had Jarell. Did we know that he will show up like this? No, not exactly, but we were pretty hopeful, so the future is bright. It’s cool.”

Joe Gomez is often seen as Trent Alexander-Arnold’s backup at right-back, but Quansah has swiftly established himself as Liverpool’s primary center-back option.

In the Premier League, Quansah’s opportunities have mostly come in the Carabao Cup and Europa League, while Virgil van Dijk is usually flanked by Joel Matip or Ibrahima Konate. Before being given a permanent promotion to the main team, he actually began the season playing ninety minutes for Liverpool’s Under-23 squad in a Premier League 2 match against local rivals Everton.