Liverpool is building for the future at the moment, with Jürgen Klopp’s squad having undergone a radical transformation over the summer. There’s still business to be done in what is left of the transfer window as well. However, against Newcastle United, the club also got a glimpse of a player who could already represent an exciting future in red in years to come.

Liverpool’s victory over Newcastle United was a whirlwind rush of emotions from the very beginning to the very end. It was a chaotic, yet extremely mature performance from Klopp’s side, and one that could be seen as a bit of a catalyst for the rest of the season.

With ten men, few would have suspected Liverpool would be able to pull off a comeback against Newcastle away from home.

But Klopp’s substitution in the 77th minute proved to be decisive with Darwin Núñez coming on and getting a brace.

It wasn’t just the Uruguayan that came on in the 77th minute though. Klopp made a double substitution, and boldly gave a first team debut to Jarell Quansah, who came in to replace Joël Matip.

That was an unexpected choice by the Liverpool boss but ultimately it paid dividends. Quansah formed a solid partnership alongside Gomez and for the subsequent 17 minutes that he spent on the pitch, he didn’t put a foot wrong.

Despite Newcastle pressing on and trying to cause Liverpool problems, Quansah played with a lot of maturity and managed to stifle any opportunities. This wasn’t the performance of a youngster making his debut but that of a seasoned veteran coming in to kill the game off.

Quansah has been impressing in pre-season all summer, and that debut was definitely a fruit of his labors.

During pre-season with the first team, he’s been solid, winning eight out of his ten defensive duels as per Wyscout, making 12 interceptions and 22 recoveries. That’s a really strong return for 167 minutes of football.

In the club’s academy Quansah has always been highly regarded. He has captained Liverpool’s U18 side and also the U19 team in the UEFA Youth League. Liverpool hasn’t tended to produce a lot of high quality center-backs, but Quansah could be one to buck that trend.

Someone who is very comfortable on the ball, reads the game well and is relatively quick, he has it all and now he has proven he can step up when it matters in competitive games for the senior team as well.

Perhaps it’s too early to expect too much from him given he is only 20 years old, but with Europa League football on the cards there are definitely more potential opportunities on the way for the youngster to catch the eye and give even more glimpses of his exciting future.

Newcastle was just a small glimmer. There is a lot more to come — and while Núñez made a rather more obvious case to be a major part of ‘Liverpool 2.0’, Quansah set about staking his claim too.