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"To an observer, it appears insane," Jarell Quansah remarks, as he reflects on his summer just gone, when rapid transformation felt like a constant. "But it is one of them ... football is a unpredictable game."

A Brief Summary

Shortly after winning the European Under-21 Championship with the English national team at the end of June, Quansah decided to leave Liverpool, to join Bayer Leverkusen in a £30m deal.

The significant transfer sum equalled big pressure as the young defender was charged with finding his feet in a foreign land and at a team where the turnover was dramatic. The new manager had stepped in to replace Xabi Alonso and a host of key players were gone or going – chief among them several high-profile names, key squad members, influential figures, Amine Adli, Granit Xhaka, Lukas Hradecky and Jonathan Tah.

League Introduction

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on August 23rd at their home ground to their opponents and the central defender found the net after five minutes, albeit the goal was overshadowed by tragedy. His primary thought was his former Liverpool teammate, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah performed Jota's gamer celebration as a mark of respect.

"To have a goal on your Bundesliga debut, in front of home fans, after five minutes, is definitely a whirlwind," Quansah states. "But my overwhelming feeling was that it was a homage to Diogo."

Initial Struggles

The defender could have been forgiven for wondering what he had signed up for at the German club. After the encouraging beginning in their opening league fixture, they succumbed to a 2-1 defeat and the following game on August 30th was just as bad. Ten Hag's team squandered 2-0 and 3-1 leads to finish level at their reduced opponents, the equaliser coming in stoppage time. It was no longer his responsibility for much longer. He was sacked on September 1st.

Staying Focused

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

Quansah has remained focused under the current coach, Kasper Hjulmand, and continued to do what he originally planned to do at the club – play. Hjulmand has brought stability. His team have three wins and one draw in their domestic campaign along with draws in each of their European matches. But there is a more significant number that encourages Quansah, even bringing a measure of vindication. It is the one which shows he has played every minute of the club's campaign.

International Recognition

It is one that Thomas Tuchel has noted. The England head coach was a fan previously, selecting Quansah when he announced his initial selection. After omitting him in June so that Quansah could concentrate on the youth tournament, he provided him with a late call-up in September when John Stones was forced to withdraw.

Still to win his international debut, Quansah must have done something right in training and around the camp because he was selected at the beginning in the manager's 24‑man group for the upcoming matches, essentially as a additional defensive option with Stones fit again. The aspiration is a first appearance. It is one more milestone he would certainly take in his stride.

Decision Making

"With my new club, the club were keen on signing me for a while and that's not only from the coach," Quansah says. "They were interested before he got appointed. So understanding it was a sort of internal decision and things would remain consistent with whatever coach was to take over ... it was straightforward for me to choose this path.

"We had a lot of players departing and it's consistently challenging 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 requiring patience to build and we are still progressing. But if we are getting results and not losing that is a solid foundation to start."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a wrench for Quansah to leave his long-time club, his team since childhood, where he enjoyed so many memorable moments – such as the Carabao Cup final victory over their London rivals in 2023‑24 when he was introduced as an late replacement.

Quansah was also a part of last season's domestic championship success. Yet his view 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 limited playing time comparing unfavourably with his statistics from the prior season when he featured more regularly.

Career Development

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

"My primary desire was game time and when you are at a top-level club, it's not guaranteed because there are world-class players all over the pitch. I wanted somewhere where they can trust that I might make mistakes at times but they will see beyond that and see I can keep pushing and pushing."

Foundation Building

Quansah remembers his loan to the lower division club in the later part of that season where he made his first senior appearances – 16 of them, to be precise. There were "numerous wake-up calls", he says with a smile, starting with his first game; a 5-1 defeat at Morecambe.

"That was a true eye-opener," Quansah says. "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 gained fresh insights. That's when I understood how valuable experience and playing games was. You could suggest it influenced my decision in the off-season."