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"To an observer, it appears 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 opted to depart from his childhood club, to go to Bayer Leverkusen in a multi-million pound transfer.

The significant transfer sum brought high expectations as the 22-year-old was charged with finding his feet in a new country and at a club where the churn was dramatic. Erik ten Hag had taken over to succeed the previous coach and a host of key players were departing or already left – chief among them Florian Wirtz, Piero Hincapié, Jeremie Frimpong, Amine Adli, experienced professionals, established players and Jonathan Tah.

League Introduction

Quansah's first league appearance came on 23 August at their home ground to their opponents and the central defender scored after the opening minutes, albeit the achievement was overshadowed by tragedy. His primary thought was his former Liverpool teammate, who was tragically lost in a road incident. Quansah executed his teammate's signature celebration as a mark of respect.

"Scoring on your Bundesliga debut, at home, after the opening moments, is definitely a whirlwind," Quansah states. "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 signed up for at Leverkusen. From the promising start in their opening league fixture, they fell to a 2-1 defeat and the following game on 30 August was equally disappointing. Ten Hag's team squandered 2-0 and 3-1 leads to finish level at their reduced opponents, the tying goal coming in stoppage time. It was not Ten Hag's team for much longer. His dismissal came on September 1st.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah doesn't appear to be the kind to worry. If calmness characterizes his playing style, it was evident during the interview he gave after joining the national team for the Wembley friendly against Wales and the qualifying match against their next opponents.

Quansah has remained focused under the current coach, Kasper Hjulmand, and continued to do what he always intended to do at the team – play. The new manager has brought stability. His squad have three wins and one draw in their domestic campaign along with ties in each of their Champions League ties. But there is a broader statistic that motivates the player, even bringing a sense of justification. It is the one which shows he has played every minute of the team's season.

National Team Attention

It is one that Thomas Tuchel has noted. The national team manager was a admirer last season, including him when he announced his initial selection. After omitting him in the summer so that Quansah could concentrate on the youth tournament, he gave him a late call-up in the autumn when the experienced defender was compelled to pull out.

Yet to earn his first cap, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in practice sessions and within the squad environment because he was named at the outset in Tuchel's 24‑man group for Wales and Latvia, essentially as a fifth centre-back with the regular starter returning. The dream is a debut. It is another thing he would surely take in his stride.

Decision Making

"With my new club, the team were keen on signing me for a while and that's not only from the coach," Quansah explains. "They were interested before he got appointed. So knowing it was a type of internal decision and nothing would change with whatever coach was to come in ... it was easy for me to make that decision.

"There were a lot of players leaving and it's always tough when you lose key players. It has been difficult to establish new hierarchies but the outcomes we have had [under Hjulmand] show that we have got a good squad with talented individuals. It is going to take time to build and we are not where we want to be. But if we are getting results 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 depart from his long-time club, his club from the age of five, where he experienced so many significant occasions – such as the league cup triumph over Chelsea in the previous season when he came on 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 one he would have preferred. He was an non-playing reserve on 25 occasions in the competition, his four starts and nine appearances comparing unfavourably with his statistics from 2023‑24 when he started nine games.

Career Development

"I consistently developed off some of the best players around me at my former club and it's been incredibly beneficial for my career," he says. "However, for a developing defender, you need games and I'm going to be needing hundreds of games to be at my desired level.

"I just wanted regular playing opportunities and when you are at a team like Liverpool, it's not guaranteed because there are world-class players throughout the squad. I wanted an environment where they can trust that I could errors at certain moments but they will see beyond that and recognize I can keep pushing and pushing."

Foundation Building

Quansah remembers his loan to League One Bristol Rovers in the later part of that season where he debuted at professional level – 16 of them, to be precise. There were "multiple reality checks", he says with a grin, beginning with his first game; a heavy loss at Morecambe.

"That represented a genuine revelation," Quansah says. "It proved a extremely important chapter in my development because I aimed to take the subsequent progression to regular senior competition. Each match I gained fresh insights. That's where I understood how crucial practical knowledge and playing games was. You could say it informed my choice in the summer."