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"From the outside, it seems crazy," Jarell Quansah remarks, as he reflects on his summer just gone, when dizzying change felt like a constant. "But it is one of them ... football is a crazy game."

A Brief Summary

Days after claiming victory in the European Under-21 Championship with England at the end of June, Quansah decided to leave Liverpool, to join the Bundesliga side in a multi-million pound transfer.

The significant transfer sum equalled high expectations as the young defender was charged with finding his feet in a new country and at a club where the churn was substantial. Erik ten Hag had stepped in to succeed Xabi Alonso and a host of star performers were departing or already left – chief among them Florian Wirtz, key squad members, Jeremie Frimpong, prominent athletes, experienced professionals, Lukas Hradecky and Jonathan Tah.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on 23 August at home to Hoffenheim and the centre-half found the net after the opening minutes, though the achievement was undercut by tragedy. His primary thought was Diogo Jota, who was tragically lost in a road incident. Quansah performed Jota's gamer celebration as a mark of respect.

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

Early Challenges

The player could have been excused for questioning what he had signed up for at Leverkusen. After the encouraging beginning in their first league game, they succumbed to a 2-1 defeat and the following game on August 30th was equally disappointing. The squad squandered 2-0 and 3-1 leads to finish level at 10-man Werder Bremen, the tying goal coming in added time. It was not Ten Hag's team for very long. He was sacked on September 1st.

Staying Focused

Quansah doesn't appear to be the type to fret. If calmness defines his game, it was on show during the interview he participated in after being selected for the national team for the international friendly against Wales and the World Cup qualifier 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 club – play. Hjulmand has established consistency. His squad have three wins and one draw in four league matches along with ties in each of their European matches. But there is a broader statistic that encourages Quansah, even bringing a sense of justification. It is the fact that demonstrates he has been ever-present of the team's season.

International Recognition

It is something that Thomas Tuchel has noted. The England head coach was a admirer last season, selecting Quansah when he named his first squad. After omitting him in June so that Quansah could concentrate on the Under-21 European Championship, he gave him a last-minute inclusion in September when John Stones was forced to withdraw.

Still to win his first cap, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in practice sessions and within the squad environment because he was named at the outset in Tuchel's squad selection for the upcoming matches, essentially as a fifth centre-back with Stones fit again. The dream is a first appearance. It is one more milestone he would certainly take in his stride.

Career Choices

"With my new club, the club were interested in me for a considerable time and that's not only from the manager [Ten Hag]," Quansah explains. "Their interest existed before he got appointed. So understanding it was a sort of organizational choice and nothing would change with whatever coach was to come in ... it was easy for me to choose this path.

"There were a lot of players leaving and it's consistently challenging when you lose key players. It has been tough to establish new hierarchies but the results we have had recently demonstrate that we have developed a good squad with quality players. It is requiring patience to develop and we are not where we want to be. But if we are getting results and not losing that is a solid foundation to begin from."

Leaving Childhood Club

It had to have been a wrench for Quansah to leave his long-time club, his team since childhood, where he experienced so many memorable moments – such as the league cup triumph over Chelsea in 2023‑24 when he was introduced as an extra-time substitute.

Quansah was also a part of last season's domestic championship success. Yet his perspective of most of that achievement was not the one he would have preferred. He was an unused substitute on 25 occasions in the league, his limited playing time falling short compared to his statistics from 2023‑24 when he started nine games.

Career Development

"I consistently developed off some of the best players around me at Liverpool and it's been so good for my professional development," he says. "However, for a developing defender, you need games and I'm will require extensive playing time to be at my desired level.

"My primary desire was regular playing opportunities and when you are at a top-level club, it's not promised because there are world-class players throughout the squad. I wanted somewhere where they can have confidence that I could errors at times but they will see beyond that and recognize I can keep pushing and improving."

Foundation Building

Quansah recalls his loan to the lower division club in the later part of that season where he debuted at professional level – multiple matches, to be exact. There were "numerous wake-up calls", he notes with a smile, starting with his first game; a heavy loss at Morecambe.

"That represented a genuine revelation," Quansah reflects. "It proved a really valuable chapter in my development because I wanted to make the subsequent progression to playing first-team football. Every game I learned something new. That's where I knew how crucial experience and playing games was. You could suggest it influenced my choice in the off-season."