Less than three years ago, Jarell Quansah and Conor Bradley were lining up for Liverpool in an FA Youth Cup final. Now the developing duo have their sights on a much bigger prize.
Both Quansah and Bradley started the Reds’ League Cup semi-final second leg at Fulham on Wednesday night, where a 1-1 draw was sufficient to secure a 3-2 aggregate triumph and a showdown with Chelsea at Wembley next month.
It was another significant step in the burgeoning career of the 20-year-old duo, who have both started to realise their potential this season for Jurgen Klopp’s new-look side.
PAUL GORST: Three-word banner in Liverpool away end says everything about new Jurgen Klopp revolution
IAN DOYLE: Liverpool may need another makeover as £40m transfer takes step forward
Playing alongside skipper Virgil van Dijk at centre-back, Quansah was making only a 12th start since making his senior breakthrough in August, while Bradley is proving an able deputy for Trent Alexander-Arnold at right-back having missed much of the first half of the campaign through injury.
And Quansah says: “Virgil has shown over the last five or 10 years he has been one of the best centre-backs in the world and in my opinion the best. To have him next to you, just talking through the game, helps us all. Especially as we had an inexperienced right-hand side, some would say, but me and Con have played together a long time now, so we know each other’s game quite well.
“To have that and be able to stick together like we did in the Youth Cup days, being able to transfer that on to here is a great achievement for us.
“It’s unbelievable (to be in a final). When you start off as a kid as a footballer, it’s where you want to be, in finals. You imagine it but you never actually really think it. But just to do it is a dream come true. And seeing Con grow as a person and a player has been great.”
Quansah was preferred ahead of Ibrahima Konate, who was introduced for the closing moments at Craven Cottage to help Liverpool fend off a late Fulham revival. And the youngster could have another chance to impress in the FA Cup fourth-round tie at home to Norwich City on Sunday.
“There’s a lot of competition between everyone and everyone is going to want to start in the final, so it’s about taking every opportunity that comes,” he says. “There are a lot of games between now and then, so any game I can get and chance I can get I’ll try to play my best and get rhythm and form.”
Quansah and Bradley have been a beneficiary of Klopp’s willingness to give youth an opportunity, with Academy graduates Luke Chambers, James McConnell, Owen Beck, Kaide Gordon, Calum Scanlon and Bobby Clark all being given minutes this season. Eight of Liverpool’s 20-man squad at Fulham had come through the ranks at Kirkby.
“It builds confidence so much,” says Bradley. “To be in a semi-final of a cup for Liverpool, my dream club, it’s unreal for the gaffer to put trust in me to play, especially alongside Jarell as we’re both young players. The trust he has in us is brilliant.”
“They just play to their skillset,” says Klopp. “They are two really good boys and then you bring on Bobby, who looks like a man now. He is really, really young! We had Trey (Nyoni), James and Owen (on the bench), they all have incredible talents. We saw in the last few weeks they are ready, so why shouldn’t we bring them?”
While Bradley started alongside Quansah in the FA Youth Cup final loss at Aston Villa in May 2021, the Northern Ireland international has already played at Wembley having won the EFL Trophy during a loan spell at Bolton Wanderers last season when Plymouth Argyle were thrashed 4-0 in front of a crowd of almost 80,000.
Luis Diaz’s early strike at Fulham on Wednesday ultimately proved pivotal and continued the Colombian’s good run of recent form. And Bradley, speaking to LFC TV, says: “He’s not easy to go up against in training, I tell you that! Lucho has been unbelievable in the last couple of weeks and hopefully he can just keep scoring for us.
“The first 75 minutes we were in total control and once they get that goal the crowd get up, but we’re just happy to get through and we can’t wait to get to Wembley.
“Those moments help build character. It’s a new team with a lot of new players, and to go through little spells like that and come through it and make sure we get to Wembley, it’s really good. We are just really looking forward to the final now.
“We want to win everything we are in this season. There are four competitions up for grabs and we are going to try to win them all, so this is just the first bit, getting to the final. We’re going to keep going.”
Laura Adams is a tech enthusiast residing in the UK. Her articles cover the latest technological innovations, from AI to consumer gadgets, providing readers with a glimpse into the future of technology.
