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"To an observer, it seems insane," Jarell Quansah remarks, as he looks back on his summer just gone, when dizzying change felt like a constant. "But it is one of them ... football is a crazy game."

A Quick Recap

Shortly after winning the European Under-21 Championship with England at the conclusion of June, Quansah opted to depart from Liverpool, to go to the Bundesliga side in a £30m deal.

The significant transfer sum brought big pressure as the young defender was charged with finding his feet in a new country and at a team where the churn was substantial. Erik ten Hag had taken over to replace the previous coach and a host of key players were departing or already left – chief among them several high-profile names, Piero Hincapié, Jeremie Frimpong, prominent athletes, experienced professionals, established players and Jonathan Tah.

League Introduction

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on 23 August at their home ground to Hoffenheim and the central defender scored after the opening minutes, though the achievement was overshadowed by tragedy. His primary thought was Diogo Jota, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah executed Jota's gamer celebration as a mark of respect.

"Scoring on your first Bundesliga match, at home, after five minutes, is definitely a whirlwind," Quansah states. "However, my dominant emotion was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Early Challenges

The player could have been forgiven for wondering what he had signed up for at Leverkusen. From the promising start in their first league game, they succumbed to a narrow loss and the next match on 30 August was equally disappointing. Ten Hag's team threw away 2-0 and 3-1 leads to finish level at 10-man Werder Bremen, the tying goal coming in stoppage time. It was no longer his responsibility for very long. He was sacked on 1 September.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah doesn't appear to be the kind to worry. If calmness characterizes his playing style, it was on show during the interview he gave after being selected for the national team for the Wembley friendly against their rivals and the qualifying match against their next opponents.

Quansah has kept his head down under the new Leverkusen manager, Kasper Hjulmand, and persisted in doing what he originally planned to do at the team – compete. The new manager has established consistency. His team have positive results in their domestic campaign along with ties in each of their Champions League ties. But there is a broader statistic that encourages Quansah, even bringing a sense of justification. It is the fact that demonstrates he has played every minute of the club's campaign.

International Recognition

It is something that the England head coach has noted. The England head coach was a admirer previously, selecting Quansah when he named his first squad. After omitting him in the summer so that Quansah could focus on the Under-21 European Championship, he provided him with a last-minute inclusion in the autumn when John Stones was compelled to pull out.

Still to win his international debut, Quansah must have done something right in training and around the camp because he was named at the outset in the manager's squad selection for the upcoming matches, effectively as a additional defensive option with Stones fit again. The aspiration is a debut. It is another thing he would surely take in his stride.

Career Choices

"With my new club, the club were interested in me for a considerable time and that's not just from the coach," Quansah explains. "They were interested before he got appointed. So understanding it was a type of organizational choice and nothing would change with whatever coach was to take over ... it was straightforward for me to choose this path.

"We had a numerous squad members departing and it's always tough when you see important figures leave. It has been tough to build the leadership groups but the results we have had [under Hjulmand] demonstrate that we have developed a competitive team with talented individuals. It is going to take time to develop and we are not where we want to be. But if we are achieving positive outcomes and not losing that is a good place to start."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a wrench for Quansah to leave Liverpool, his club from the age of five, where he experienced so many memorable moments – such as the league cup triumph over their London rivals in 2023‑24 when he was introduced as an late replacement.

Quansah was also involved in the previous campaign's domestic championship success. Yet his perspective of most of that achievement was not the perspective he would have preferred. He was an unused substitute on 25 occasions in the league, his four starts and nine appearances falling short compared to his statistics from the prior season when he featured more regularly.

Professional Growth

"I've always learned off some of the best players around me at my former club and it's been so good for my career," he says. "However, for a developing defender, you need games and I'm going to be needing hundreds of games to be where I want to be.

"My primary desire was regular playing opportunities and when you are at a top-level club, it's not guaranteed because there are world-class players throughout the squad. I wanted an environment where they can have confidence that I might make mistakes at certain moments but they will look under that and see I can continue developing and pushing."

Early Experience

Quansah recalls his temporary transfer to the lower division club in the later part of that season where he debuted at professional level – 16 of them, to be precise. There were "multiple reality checks", he notes with a grin, starting with his first game; a heavy loss at Morecambe.

"That was a true eye-opener," Quansah reflects. "It was a really valuable chapter in my development because I aimed to take the next step to playing first-team football. Each match I gained fresh insights. That's when I knew how crucial experience and playing games was. You could say it informed my decision in the summer."