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"From the outside, it seems insane," Jarell Quansah says, as he looks back on his summer just gone, when rapid transformation felt like a constant. "However, that's just how it goes ... football is a crazy game."

A Brief Summary

Days after winning the U21 European Championship with England at the conclusion of June, Quansah decided to leave his childhood club, to join the Bundesliga side in a multi-million pound transfer.

The big fee brought high expectations as the young defender was tasked with finding his feet in a new country and at a club where the churn was dramatic. The new manager had stepped in to replace Xabi Alonso and a host of star performers were gone or going – chief among them several high-profile names, Piero Hincapié, influential figures, prominent athletes, experienced professionals, Lukas Hradecky and Jonathan Tah.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on August 23rd at their home ground to Hoffenheim and the central defender found the net after the opening minutes, albeit the goal was overshadowed by sadness. All he could think about was Diogo Jota, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah executed Jota's gamer celebration as a tribute.

"Scoring on your first Bundesliga match, at home, after the opening moments, is definitely a whirlwind," Quansah says. "But my overwhelming feeling was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Initial Struggles

The defender could have been excused for questioning what he had committed to at the German club. 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. Ten Hag's team squandered 2-0 and 3-1 leads to draw 3-3 at their reduced opponents, the tying goal coming in added time. It was no longer his responsibility for very long. His dismissal came on 1 September.

Maintaining Composure

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 England for the international friendly against Wales and the World Cup qualifier against Latvia.

Quansah has kept his head down under the new Leverkusen manager, Kasper Hjulmand, and continued to do what he always intended to do at the club – play. Hjulmand has brought stability. His squad have three wins and one draw in their domestic campaign 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 one which shows he has played every minute of the club's campaign.

International Recognition

It is one that the England head coach has observed. The national team manager was a admirer last season, selecting Quansah when he announced his initial selection. After omitting him in the summer so that Quansah could concentrate on the youth tournament, he provided him with a late call-up in the autumn when John Stones was compelled to pull out.

Yet to earn his international debut, Quansah must have done something right in practice sessions and around the camp because he was selected at the outset in Tuchel's 24‑man group for the upcoming matches, essentially as a additional defensive option with the regular starter returning. The aspiration is a first appearance. It is one more milestone he would surely handle with ease.

Career Choices

"With my new club, the club were keen on signing 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 things would remain consistent with whatever coach was to take over ... it was easy for me to make that decision.

"We had a numerous squad members departing and it's always tough when you see important figures leave. It has been difficult to build the leadership groups but the outcomes we have had [under Hjulmand] show that we have got a competitive team with quality players. It is going to take time to build and we are not where we want to be. But if we are achieving positive outcomes and not losing that is a good place to begin from."

Leaving Childhood Club

It had to have been a difficult separation for Quansah to leave Liverpool, his team since childhood, where he experienced so many significant occasions – such as the Carabao Cup final victory over Chelsea in 2023‑24 when he came on as an extra-time substitute.

Quansah was also involved in last season's domestic championship success. Yet his view of much of that was not the one he would have preferred. He was an non-playing reserve on multiple matches in the league, his limited playing time comparing unfavourably with his numbers from the prior season when he featured more regularly.

Professional Growth

"I consistently developed off some of the best players around me at my former club and it's been so good for my career," he comments. "But as a young centre-back, you need games and I'm going to be needing hundreds of games to be where I want to be.

"I just wanted game time and when you are at a team like Liverpool, it's not guaranteed 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 see I can keep pushing and improving."

Foundation Building

Quansah recalls his loan to League One Bristol Rovers in the later part of that season where he debuted at professional level – multiple matches, to be precise. There were "numerous wake-up calls", he notes with a smile, starting with his debut; a 5-1 defeat at Morecambe.

"That represented a genuine revelation," Quansah says. "It was a extremely important part of my career because I wanted to make the subsequent progression to playing first-team football. Each match I learned something new. That's when I understood how valuable experience and match practice was. You could suggest it influenced my decision in the summer."