Liverpool may have unearthed their next Jarell Quansah as 16-year-old pair praised

Liverpool youngster Amara Nallo has been saluted for stepping up seamlessly against opposition much older than him.

Nallo joined the Reds’ academy from West Ham United in the summer transfer window. Still only 16, the centre-back has already featured three times for Barry Lewtas’ under-21s this season. The most recent was a 1-1 draw against Benfica in the Premier League International Cup last Sunday.

Nallo featured alongside Jarell Quansah, who has made five appearances for Jurgen Klopp’s first team this campaign, in the first half. Nallo’s performance was saluted by Lewtas, while fellow 16-year-old Carter Pinnington has also featured regularly for the under-21s this season.

Speaking to Liverpoolfc.com, Lewtas said: “Amara was excellent. Him and Carter Pinnington have been playing quite regularly for us so far together. Listen, he is just 16, and I don’t think we’ve ever asked a lad that young to play at centre-back against senior opposition.

“He should be really proud of his performance. I think the main thing for Amara is he played ever so well but he didn’t let any kind of mistakes or momentum shifts in the game affect him. So he didn’t play like a 16-year-old, that’s for sure.”

James McConnell was on target for Liverpool against Benfica - having been on the bench for the 2-0 Merseyside derby victory against Everton the previous day.

On the draw, Lewtas said: “Listen, we were playing against Benfica’s second team who play second division football against senior opposition. For us, we had a mixed team, but I thought we did ever so well. We had some new relationships on the pitch to build but overall I thought we couldn’t have competed any more.

“Some parts of our play were excellent apart from we could have done a bit more in the final third, but overall I’m really pleased with them. We play Leeds United away next weekend in Premier League 2, so we are back to a rhythm of games and we look forward to that.”