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"From the outside, it seems crazy," 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 Brief Summary

Days after winning the U21 European Championship with the English national team at the conclusion of June, Quansah decided to leave Liverpool, to join Bayer Leverkusen in a £30m deal.

The big fee equalled high expectations as the 22-year-old was charged with finding his feet in a foreign land and at a team where the turnover was substantial. Erik ten Hag had stepped in to succeed the previous coach and a host of star performers were gone or going – chief among them several high-profile names, Piero Hincapié, influential figures, prominent athletes, Granit Xhaka, established players and Jonathan Tah.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's first league appearance came on 23 August at their home ground to Hoffenheim and the centre-half scored after five minutes, albeit the goal was undercut by tragedy. All he could think about was Diogo Jota, who was tragically lost in a road incident. Quansah executed his teammate's signature celebration as a tribute.

"To have a goal on your Bundesliga debut, in front of home fans, after five minutes, is certainly a rollercoaster," Quansah says. "But my overwhelming feeling was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Early Challenges

The player could have been forgiven for wondering what he had committed to 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 comfortable advantages to draw 3-3 at their reduced opponents, the equaliser coming in stoppage time. It was no longer his responsibility for very long. He was sacked on September 1st.

Staying Focused

Quansah does not come across as the kind to worry. If composure characterizes his playing style, it was evident during the interview he participated in after joining the national team for the Wembley friendly against their rivals and the qualifying match against Latvia.

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 positive results in their domestic campaign along with ties in each of their Champions League ties. But there is a more significant number that encourages Quansah, even bringing a measure of vindication. It is the fact that demonstrates he has been ever-present of the club's campaign.

National Team Attention

It is something that Thomas Tuchel has noted. The England head coach was a fan last season, including him when he named his first squad. After leaving him out in the summer so that Quansah could focus on the youth tournament, he gave him a last-minute inclusion in September when the experienced defender was forced to withdraw.

Yet to earn his international debut, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in training and around the camp because he was named at the beginning in Tuchel's 24‑man group for the upcoming matches, essentially as a additional defensive option with the regular starter returning. The dream is a debut. It is one more milestone he would certainly handle with ease.

Career Choices

"At Leverkusen, the club were interested in me for a considerable time and that's not only from the coach," Quansah says. "They were interested prior to his arrival. So knowing it was a type of organizational choice and nothing would change with which manager was to take over ... it was straightforward for me to choose this path.

"There were a numerous squad members leaving and it's always tough 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 competitive team with talented individuals. It is requiring patience to develop and we are still progressing. But if we are achieving positive outcomes and not losing that is a solid foundation to start."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a wrench for Quansah to leave Liverpool, his team since childhood, where he enjoyed so many significant occasions – such as the league cup triumph over Chelsea in the previous season when he was introduced as an extra-time substitute.

Quansah was also involved in last season's Premier League title triumph. Yet his perspective of much of that was not the one he would have chosen. He was an non-playing reserve on 25 occasions in the league, his limited playing time comparing unfavourably with 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 career," he comments. "However, for a developing defender, you require match experience and I'm going to be needing hundreds of games to be at my desired level.

"My primary desire was regular playing opportunities and when you are at a team like Liverpool, it's not promised because there are world-class players throughout the squad. I wanted somewhere where they can have confidence that I might make mistakes at times but they will see beyond that and recognize I can continue developing and pushing."

Early Experience

Quansah remembers his temporary transfer to the lower division club in the second-half of 2022-23 where he made his first senior appearances – multiple matches, to be precise. There were "multiple reality checks", he notes with a smile, starting with his debut; a 5-1 defeat at their opponents.

"That represented a true eye-opener," Quansah reflects. "It proved a really valuable part of my career because I aimed to take the next step to playing first-team football. Every game I learned something new. That's when I understood how crucial experience and match practice was. You could say it influenced my decision in the summer."