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"To an observer, it appears insane," Jarell Quansah says, as he looks back on his recent summer, when rapid transformation felt like a constant. "But it is one of them ... football is a unpredictable game."

A Quick Recap

Days after winning the U21 European Championship with England at the end of June, Quansah decided to leave his childhood club, to go to the Bundesliga side in a £30m deal.

The significant transfer sum brought big pressure as the young defender was charged with settling in in a foreign land and at a team where the turnover was substantial. The new manager had taken over to succeed Xabi Alonso and a host of key players were gone or going – including several high-profile names, Piero Hincapié, Jeremie Frimpong, Amine Adli, experienced professionals, Lukas Hradecky and team leaders.

League Introduction

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on 23 August at their home ground to Hoffenheim and the central defender found the net after five minutes, though the achievement was overshadowed by tragedy. His primary thought was his former Liverpool teammate, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah executed his teammate's signature celebration as a tribute.

"Scoring on your first Bundesliga match, at home, after five minutes, is certainly a whirlwind," Quansah says. "But my overwhelming feeling was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Initial Struggles

The defender could have been forgiven for wondering what he had signed up for at Leverkusen. After the encouraging beginning in their first league game, they fell to a narrow loss and the following game on August 30th was equally disappointing. The squad squandered comfortable advantages to draw 3-3 at their reduced opponents, the equaliser coming in stoppage time. It was not Ten Hag's team for much longer. His dismissal came on September 1st.

Staying Focused

Quansah does not come across as the type to fret. If calmness characterizes his playing style, it was evident during the interview he participated in after being selected for England for the Wembley friendly against Wales and the World Cup qualifier against their next opponents.

Quansah has remained focused under the new Leverkusen manager, Kasper Hjulmand, and persisted in doing what he always intended to do at the team – play. The new manager has established consistency. His squad have positive results in their domestic campaign along with ties in each of their Champions League ties. But there is a more significant number that motivates the player, even bringing a sense of justification. It is the one which shows he has played every minute of the club's campaign.

International Recognition

It is something that Thomas Tuchel has observed. The national team manager was a admirer last season, including him when he named his first squad. After leaving him out in June so that Quansah could focus on the Under-21 European Championship, he gave him a last-minute inclusion in September when John Stones was compelled to pull out.

Still to win his first cap, Quansah must have done something right in training and within the squad environment because he was named at the outset in the manager's 24‑man group for the upcoming matches, essentially as a additional defensive option with Stones fit again. The dream is a debut. It is one more milestone he would surely handle with ease.

Career Choices

"At Leverkusen, the team were keen on signing me for a while and that's not only from the manager [Ten Hag]," Quansah says. "Their interest existed before he got appointed. So knowing it was a type of internal decision and nothing would change with which manager was to take over ... it was easy for me to make that decision.

"We had a lot of players departing and it's always tough when you lose key players. It has been difficult to establish new hierarchies but the results we have had [under Hjulmand] demonstrate that we have developed a competitive team with quality players. It is requiring patience to build and we are not where we want to be. But if we are getting results and avoiding defeats that is a solid foundation to begin from."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a wrench for Quansah to depart from his long-time club, his club from the age of five, where he enjoyed so many significant occasions – such as the league cup triumph over Chelsea in 2023‑24 when he was introduced as an late replacement.

Quansah was also a part of the previous campaign's domestic championship success. Yet his view of much of that was not the one he would have preferred. He was an unused substitute on 25 occasions in the competition, his limited playing time falling short compared to his numbers from 2023‑24 when he started nine games.

Professional Growth

"I consistently developed off top-level professionals around me at my former club and it's been incredibly beneficial for my professional development," he comments. "But as a young centre-back, you require match experience and I'm going to be needing extensive playing time to be at my desired level.

"I just wanted game time and when you are at a top-level club, it's not promised because there are world-class players throughout the squad. I wanted an environment where they can trust that I could errors at times but they will see beyond that and see I can continue developing and pushing."

Foundation Building

Quansah recalls his loan to the lower division club in the later part of that season where he debuted at professional level – 16 of them, to be exact. There were "numerous wake-up calls", he notes with a grin, starting with his first game; a heavy loss at their opponents.

"That represented a true eye-opener," Quansah says. "It was a extremely important chapter in my development because I aimed to take the subsequent progression to regular senior competition. Each match I learned something new. That's when I knew how valuable experience and playing games was. You could suggest it informed my choice in the off-season."