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"From the outside, it appears insane," Jarell Quansah remarks, as he reflects on his recent summer, when rapid transformation felt like a constant. "However, that's just how it goes ... football is a crazy game."

A Quick Recap

Shortly after winning the European Under-21 Championship with England at the end of June, Quansah decided to leave Liverpool, to go to Bayer Leverkusen 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 team where the turnover was substantial. Erik ten Hag had taken over to replace the previous coach and a host of key players were departing or already left – including Florian Wirtz, Piero Hincapié, influential figures, Amine Adli, experienced professionals, established players and team leaders.

League Introduction

Quansah's first league appearance came on 23 August at their home ground to their opponents and the central defender found the net after the opening minutes, though the achievement was overshadowed by sadness. His primary thought was his former Liverpool teammate, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah performed his teammate's signature celebration as a mark of respect.

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

Early Challenges

The player could have been excused for questioning what he had committed to at Leverkusen. From the promising start in their opening league fixture, they fell to a narrow loss and the next match on August 30th was just as bad. Ten Hag's team squandered 2-0 and 3-1 leads to draw 3-3 at 10-man Werder Bremen, the tying goal coming in stoppage time. It was not Ten Hag's team for much longer. 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 being selected for England for the Wembley friendly against their rivals and the World Cup qualifier against Latvia.

Quansah has kept his head down under the current coach, the Danish tactician, and persisted in doing what he originally planned to do at the club – compete. The new manager has brought stability. His squad have three wins and one draw in their domestic campaign along with draws in each of their European matches. But there is a broader statistic that encourages Quansah, even bringing a measure of vindication. It is the fact that demonstrates he has played every minute of the team's season.

International Recognition

It is something that the England head coach has observed. The England head coach was a fan last season, including him when he named his first squad. After omitting him in June so that Quansah could concentrate on the youth tournament, he provided him with a last-minute inclusion in September when the experienced defender was compelled to pull out.

Still to win his international debut, Quansah must have done something right in practice sessions and within the squad environment because he was named at the outset in the manager's squad selection for Wales and Latvia, essentially as a additional defensive option with the regular starter returning. The aspiration is a first appearance. It is another thing he would certainly take in his stride.

Career Choices

"At Leverkusen, the team were keen on signing me for a while and that's not just from the manager [Ten Hag]," Quansah says. "They were interested before he got appointed. So understanding it was a type of organizational choice and things would remain consistent with whatever coach was to take over ... it was straightforward 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 tough to establish new hierarchies but the outcomes we have had [under Hjulmand] demonstrate that we have developed a good squad with quality players. It is going to take time to build and we are still progressing. But if we are achieving positive outcomes and avoiding defeats that is a good place 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 memorable moments – such as the league cup triumph over their London rivals in 2023‑24 when he came on as an late replacement.

Quansah was also a part of the previous campaign's Premier League title triumph. Yet his perspective of most of that achievement was not the one he would have preferred. He was an unused substitute on multiple matches in the competition, his limited playing time comparing unfavourably with his numbers from 2023‑24 when he featured more regularly.

Career Development

"I consistently developed off top-level professionals around me at Liverpool and it's been so good for my professional development," he says. "But as a young centre-back, you require match experience and I'm will require extensive playing time to be where I want to be.

"I just wanted game time and when you are at a top-level club, it's not promised because there are world-class players all over the pitch. I wanted an environment where they can have confidence that I could errors at certain moments but they will look under that and recognize I can continue developing and improving."

Early Experience

Quansah remembers his loan to the lower division club in the second-half of 2022-23 where he debuted at professional level – 16 of them, to be exact. There were "numerous wake-up calls", he says with a smile, starting with his debut; a heavy loss at Morecambe.

"That represented a genuine revelation," Quansah reflects. "It was a extremely important chapter in my development because I aimed to take the next step to regular senior competition. Each match I gained fresh insights. That's where I knew how crucial practical knowledge and playing games was. You could suggest it influenced my decision in the off-season."