The best thing that you can say about Liverpool’s young talents is that they never look out of place at the moment. Jarell Quansah, for instance, has been showing that all season, but others have since followed.
In the last few weeks, Quansah was first joined by Conor Bradley and then several more. Bobby Clark made his first Premier League start against Nottingham Forest and Jayden Danns and Lewis Koumas have made a big impact this week as well.
Quansah, Bradley and Clark all look like players who will be squad members under whoever is to become the new Liverpool manager next season. That trio look ready to make themselves semi-regulars across all competitions.
But Danns has shown plenty of promise too. Coming into the Liverpool team as a forward is the hardest area of the pitch to make an impact as a teenager. It is easy for someone slight to be bullied by experienced defenders or lost in a sea of bodies.
And yet Danns never showed much of an inkling of that ever being likely in any appearance across the last week or so. His challenge on the Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels that rightly earned him a booking was perhaps and sign that he was a bit over-desperate to exert some physicality, but Danns was able to use his body well to shield possession and link things together.
On top of being able to cope physically, Danns was also able to score two excellent goals midweek in the FA Cup tie with Southampton. While he didn’t score at Forest, he was trusted to be on the field as Liverpool chased the breakthrough that Darwin Núñez eventually found deep into stoppage time.
It means that Jürgen Klopp has another option that he can turn to. You would not bet against Danns being involved again during the Europa League last-16 tie with Sparta Prague, maybe even in a starting berth.
While Clark has just got his first league start for Liverpool, he too should be eyeing up European minutes. Quansah is a shoo-in and Bradley would be too if he wasn’t needed against Manchester City next weekend.
In the case of Quansah, it was a surprise last summer how quickly he looked established at senior level but that isn’t now. Clark would have made his case a lot earlier had he not been injured at the back end of 2023.
Danns, though, had only made his U21s debut a few weeks ago. Even for the player himself, the last week or so must have come as a surprise. No one saw it coming — but it could still be a big Liverpool boost.
What all three young talents have now proven is that they are capable of stepping in as and when Liverpool needs them. In a season that could have another 21 fixtures — if everything continues to go to plan for Liverpool — that could be invaluable.
