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"From the outside, it appears crazy," Jarell Quansah remarks, as he reflects on his recent summer, when dizzying change felt like a constant. "But it is one of them ... football is a crazy game."

A Quick Recap

Shortly after claiming victory in the European Under-21 Championship with the English national team at the end of June, Quansah decided to leave Liverpool, to join the Bundesliga side in a multi-million pound transfer.

The significant transfer sum brought big pressure as the young defender was tasked with finding his feet in a foreign land and at a team where the churn was substantial. The new manager had stepped in to replace the previous coach and a number of key players were gone or going – chief among them several high-profile names, key squad members, influential figures, prominent athletes, Granit Xhaka, established players and team leaders.

Bundesliga Debut

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

"Scoring on your Bundesliga debut, at home, after five minutes, is certainly a whirlwind," Quansah says. "But my overwhelming feeling was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Initial Struggles

The player could have been excused for questioning what he had signed up for at Leverkusen. From the promising start in their opening league fixture, they succumbed to a narrow loss and the next match on 30 August 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 not Ten Hag's team for very long. His dismissal came on September 1st.

Staying Focused

Quansah does not come across as the type to fret. If calmness defines his game, it was evident during the interview he gave after being selected for the national team for the Wembley friendly against their rivals and the qualifying match against Latvia.

Quansah has kept his head down under the current coach, Kasper Hjulmand, and persisted in doing what he always intended to do at the club – play. Hjulmand has established consistency. His team have positive results in their domestic campaign along with ties in each of their European matches. But there is a more significant number that motivates the player, even bringing a measure of vindication. It is the fact that demonstrates he has been ever-present of the team's season.

National Team Attention

It is one that the England head coach has observed. The England head coach was a fan previously, selecting Quansah when he named his first squad. After omitting him in the summer so that Quansah could concentrate on the youth tournament, he provided him with a last-minute inclusion in September when John Stones was forced to withdraw.

Yet to earn his first cap, Quansah must have done something right in training and around the camp because he was selected at the beginning in Tuchel's squad selection for the upcoming matches, effectively as a additional defensive option with the regular starter returning. The aspiration is a debut. It is one more milestone he would certainly handle with ease.

Career Choices

"At Leverkusen, the team were interested in me for a while and that's not just from the manager [Ten Hag]," Quansah says. "They were interested before he got appointed. So knowing it was a sort of internal decision and things would remain consistent with which manager was to take over ... it was straightforward 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 results we have had recently show that we have developed a good squad with quality players. It is requiring patience to build and we are not where we want to be. But if we are achieving positive outcomes and avoiding defeats that is a good place 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 experienced so many significant occasions – such as the league cup triumph over their London rivals in the previous season when he was introduced as an extra-time substitute.

Quansah was also involved in last season's domestic championship success. Yet his perspective of most of that achievement was not the perspective he would have chosen. He was an non-playing reserve on multiple matches in the competition, his limited playing time falling short compared to his statistics from 2023‑24 when he started nine games.

Professional Growth

"I've always learned 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 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 promised because there are elite performers throughout the squad. I wanted somewhere where they can trust that I could errors at certain moments but they will see beyond that and see I can keep pushing and pushing."

Early Experience

Quansah remembers his temporary transfer 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 says with a smile, beginning with his first game; a 5-1 defeat at their opponents.

"That represented a genuine revelation," Quansah reflects. "It proved a really valuable chapter in my development because I aimed to take the subsequent progression to regular senior competition. Every game I learned something new. That's where I knew how crucial practical knowledge and playing games was. You could say it influenced my choice in the summer."