He can be very proud’ – Virgil van Dijk singles out Liverpool starlet for praise

He can be very proud’ – Virgil van Dijk singles out Liverpool starlet for praise after Wolves win

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has hailed the seamless nature of Jarell Quansah’s adaptation to the Premier League – but has challenged the young defender to “keep his standards high”.

After a summer of training with Liverpool’s first team in Germany and Singapore, Quansah, 20, was handed his Premier League debut in the 2-1 victory against Newcastle United on August 27.

The Warrington-born defender was introduced to the action at St James’ Park with just 13 minutes remaining as Jurgen Klopp looked to shuffle his pack, who had been playing without Van Dijk since his red card in the first half, in the hope of turning the game on its head.

Introduced alongside Darwin Nunez, who fired a late brace on Tyneside, Quansah impressed during his cameo as Liverpool earned an incredible 2-1 smash-and-grab win against the Magpies. Since then, the 20-year-old has featured against Aston Villa on September 2 before being handed his full Premier League debut in the 2-1 triumph at Wolverhampton Wanderers last week.

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The England youth international, who has been on the Reds’ books since the age of five, was handed a starting berth in the West Midlands with Van Dijk serving an additional one-match suspension for his reaction to his sending off at St James’ Park, while Ibrahima Konate had only completed two sessions at the AXA Training Centre after sustaining a hamstring injury against Bournemouth.

Writing in his programme notes ahead of Sunday’s Premier League encounter against West Ham United, Van Dijk, who watched his side transform their fortunes in the Black Country with an inspired second-half performance, was full of praise for Quansah.

“One of the big positives from our win at Wolves last weekend was the performance of Jarell Quansah in central defence,” said Van Dijk, who is available for Premier League selection after serving a two-match ban. “It is always good to see a young player come through the ranks and we’re fortunate at Liverpool to have an Academy which is providing us with quite a few, whether it is Trent, Curtis, Stefan, Doaky or any of the other boys who have been in and around the squad.

“But for obvious reasons, I kept an extra-keen eye on Jarell and it’s safe to say he can be very proud of the way he played. If there were any nerves he didn’t show them and he went about things in a way which suggested he had way more experience than was really the case.”

After spending the second half of last season on loan at Bristol Rovers in League One, Van Dijk has urged Quansah to be prepared for further opportunities that are set to come his way at Anfield but also called on the 20-year-old to continue operating at his current level after impressing in training.

“Now he has taken that all-important first step and shown he can acquit himself well at this level, the next challenge for Jarell is to make the most of that experience by keeping his standards high in training and making the most of whatever opportunities come his way,” added the Dutchman. “The fact that he is considered good enough to start a Premier League game for Liverpool says everything about his ability so hopefully he will take that experience and go from strength to strength.”

Quansah was an unused substitute during Liverpool’s Europa League opener at Lask on Thursday, though he could return to the starting fold on Wednesday when Leicester City visit Anfield in the League Cup.