£3.5m exiled Southampton player impresses on national duty in 3-0 win

Southampton prodigy Joshua Quarshie impresses for Germany U-21 side in his inaugural start after months without game time.

The final international break of the season has been unexpected for Southampton. While the expectation was that experienced stars like Ryan Manning and Fin Azaz would take centre stage, it’s been the young Saints who have made the club proud.

Recently, Saints fans waxed lyrical over Shea Charles after the midfielder stood a class apart in Northern Ireland’s subpar display against Italy in the World Cup qualifier.

This time, young prodigy Joshua Quarshie has delivered a solid display that will catch the fans’ attention. The 21-year-old was part of the German U21 defence that dominated the Northern Ireland U21 side in their UEFA Euro U-21 qualifier game.

The most impressive aspect of Quarshie’s display was his calmness and composure despite it being his first start in months after two months without game time at Southampton.

Quarshie’s near two‑month spell without game time

The last couple of months have been challenging for Joshua Quarshie. That’s because his appearance in the recent Euro U-21 qualifier was his first start in quite a long time.

Quarshie’s last league start had come in the Hull City game at St. Mary’s. However, a disastrous performance in the game saw him being substituted at the break and never used until the recent Championship clash against Oxford United.

While boss Tonda Eckert labelled Quarshie’s substitution against Hull as a tactical change, it was mainly because of his sloppy defending at the back.

In the 20th minute, Quarshie played a pass to Ryan Manning. But Manning’s erratic back pass left Quarshie trailing behind Oli McBurnie, who laid off the ball for Joseph to punish the error.

This play had Tonda pull Quarshie out at half-time for his reluctance to cover for Manning’s error after he accepted his fate too soon and gave up defending to try to block the attempt.

Ever since, Quarshie hadn’t seen Championship game time until very recently. It was in the Oxford United game where the defender played a minute as a late substitute.

Joshua Quarshie impresses for Germany U21 in 3-0 win

Despite lacking match rhythm in recent months, Quarshie delivered a redemptive display for the Germany U21 side. He was solid at the back and allowed his team to dominate freely up front.

Notably, Quarshie played the complete 90 minutes and was a consistent presence on the ball with 127 touches in the game. With an excellent passing accuracy, he looked comfortable at the back as he covered a staggering 361.4 m distance with the ball at his feet.

Quarshie’s display saw him putting his physical abilities to the very best. With his 6′ 5″ height, the Saints’ prodigy won 3/3 aerial duels in the game.

However, Joshua Quarshie’s display reflected some scope for improvement in quite a few aspects. The defender was once again found showing reluctance to close down opposition attackers, the same flaw that cost Southampton against Hull in January.

What next for Joshua Quarshie and Southampton

Quarshie still has areas to work on if he wants to elevate his game. Currently, he allows too much space for his marker to shoot and hesitates to fully commit to last‑man tackles. Perhaps it may be some time before Southampton trusts him with regular minutes again.

Only seven games are left in this Championship season, and the Saints can’t experiment with Quarshie in this final stretch of the season. While that doesn’t mean neglecting him, he should be kept under close eye until he can build a consistent rhythm during the 2026 summer preseason.

So far, the 2025/26 campaign has been a testing debut season for Quarshie. With more substitute cameos likely to add to his 13 appearances, he’s on track to end the season on a high note.

It’s worth noting that Quarshie is only 21 years old and will only improve going forward. While he is currently the fourth-choice centre-back at Southampton, it remains to be seen how his role evolves next season.