Liverpool's Jarell Quansah among four new faces in England Under-21 squad

By Ben Knapton, Senior Reporter | 06 October 2023

Liverpool centre-back Jarell Quansah is one of a handful of players to earn their first call-ups to the England Under-21s squad for October's internationals.

Lee Carsley's side continue their bid to qualify for Euro 2025 with fixtures against Serbia and Ukraine in Group F this month, starting with a clash against the former at the City Ground in Nottingham next Thursday.

The reigning European champions will then face Ukraine in Slovakia four days later, and Carsley has made a total of five changes to the squad from September's 3-0 win over Luxembourg in their opening game.

Among the new faces in the group is Liverpool starlet Quansah, who is enjoying a breakthrough campaign at Anfield under Jurgen Klopp, making five appearances in all competitions and registering one assist.

All three of Quansah's starts for Liverpool this term have ended in victory, including Thursday's 2-0 Europa League success over Union SG, where the 20-year-old played a starring role.

Jarell Quansah in action for England's Under-18s in March 2021 © Reuters

Quansah joins fellow Under-19 Euros winner Matthew Cox in the Under-21 ranks for the first time, while Jaden Philogene - who left Aston Villa for Hull City earlier this summer - is also called up.

The fourth and final new player to earn a place in the Under-21s is Norwich City attacker Jon Rowe, who has already netted five goals in 10 Championship games for the Canaries this term, while Newcastle United's Tino Livramento returns for the first time since his devastating ACL injury.

"Jaden [Philogene] and Jonathan [Rowe] are both doing really well with their clubs at the minute – they're players who are in form which is always a good position for us to be in," Carlsey told englandfootball.com.

"We also have Jarell Quansah in the squad for the first time. He's been getting game time at Liverpool which as we know is a really tough team to get into for any player, so he deserves to be a part of this squad.

"Tino [Livramento] is a player we rate highly, it's going to be good to have him back in and around the squad. He's been out for a while injured, so we'll be looking to support him and Newcastle with that.

England Under-21s Emile Smith Rowe celebrates scoring their first goal with Morgan Gibbs-White and Harvey Elliott on March 25, 2023 © Reuters

"We always talk about the players pushing each other and we should never be in a position where we're doing a copy and paste of the squad list. The players need to know they have to keep performing either with their clubs or when they're on camp with us.

"There are some players in the squad who weren't with us last time and there are four or five who are really close to getting in this squad. When we look at the Euro Elite League squad (previously MU20s), that's also a very competitive age group and we want to have them in the position where they are pushing these players in the older age group.

"This is a really tough camp for us, against two teams that are very well respected, and we've had to do our homework on them. We're expecting two really tough games."

Recognisable names such as Cole Palmer, Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Harvey Elliott have unsurprisingly been included in the ranks after playing key roles in England's Under-21 Euros triumph over the summer.

ENGLAND UNDER-21 SQUAD IN FULL:

Goalkeepers: James Beadle (Oxford United, loan from Brighton and Hove Albion), Matthew Cox (Bristol Rovers, loan from Brentford), James Trafford (Burnley)

Defenders: Jarrad Branthwaite (Everton), Charlie Cresswell (Leeds United), Taylor Harwood-Bellis (Southampton, loan from Manchester City), Bashir Humphreys (Swansea City, loan from Chelsea), Rico Lewis (Manchester City), Tino Livramento (Newcastle United), Brooke Norton-Cuffy (Millwall, loan from Arsenal), Jarell Quansah (Liverpool)

Midfielders: Harvey Elliott (Liverpool), Hayden Hackney (Middlesbrough), James McAtee (Sheffield United, loan from Manchester City), Charlie Patino (Swansea City, loan from Arsenal), Aaron Ramsey (Burnley)

Forwards: Jamie Bynoe-Gittens (Borussia Dortmund), Liam Delap (Hull City, loan from Manchester City), Samuel Iling-Junior (Juventus), Noni Madueke (Chelsea), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Jaden Philogene (Hull City), Jon Rowe (Norwich City)