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"From the outside, it appears crazy," Jarell Quansah remarks, as he looks back 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 claiming victory in the European Under-21 Championship with England at the end of June, Quansah decided to leave his childhood club, to go to the Bundesliga side in a £30m deal.

The big fee equalled high expectations as the young defender was tasked with settling in in a new country and at a club where the turnover was dramatic. The new manager had stepped in to replace the previous coach and a number of key players were departing or already left – chief among them several high-profile names, key squad members, Jeremie Frimpong, Amine Adli, Granit Xhaka, Lukas Hradecky and team leaders.

Bundesliga Debut

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

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

Early Challenges

The defender could have been excused for questioning what he had signed up for at the German club. From the promising start in their first league game, they succumbed to a narrow loss and the next match on 30 August was equally disappointing. Ten Hag's team threw away 2-0 and 3-1 leads to draw 3-3 at their reduced opponents, the equaliser coming in added time. It was not Ten Hag's team for much longer. He was sacked on September 1st.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah doesn't appear to be the kind to worry. If composure characterizes his playing style, it was evident during the conversation he participated in after joining the national team for the Wembley friendly against Wales and the World Cup qualifier against their next opponents.

Quansah has remained focused under the new Leverkusen manager, the Danish tactician, and continued to do what he always intended to do at the team – compete. Hjulmand has brought stability. His team have three wins and one draw in four league matches along with draws in each of their European matches. But there is a more significant number that encourages Quansah, even bringing a sense of justification. It is the fact that demonstrates he has been ever-present of the team's season.

National Team Attention

It is one that Thomas Tuchel has noted. The England head coach was a admirer last season, including him when he named his first squad. After leaving him out in June so that Quansah could focus on the youth tournament, he provided him with a late call-up in September when John Stones was compelled to pull out.

Yet to earn his international debut, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in practice sessions and within the squad environment because he was selected at the beginning in Tuchel's 24‑man group for the upcoming matches, essentially as a additional defensive option with Stones fit again. The dream is a first appearance. It is one more milestone he would surely take in his stride.

Career Choices

"With my new club, the club were keen on signing me for a while and that's not just from the manager [Ten Hag]," Quansah explains. "Their interest existed prior to his arrival. So understanding it was a sort of internal decision and things would remain consistent with whatever coach was to take over ... it was easy for me to make that decision.

"There were 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 developed 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 getting results and avoiding defeats that is a good place to begin from."

Leaving Childhood Club

It had to have been a difficult separation for Quansah to depart from Liverpool, his team since childhood, where he enjoyed so many significant occasions – such as the league cup triumph over their London rivals in the previous season when he came on as an extra-time substitute.

Quansah was also a part of the previous campaign's domestic championship success. Yet his view of most of that achievement was not the perspective he would have chosen. He was an unused substitute 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 Liverpool and it's been so good for my career," he says. "But as a young centre-back, you require match experience and I'm going to be needing 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 throughout the squad. I wanted an environment where they can have confidence that I could errors at times but they will see beyond that and see I can continue developing and pushing."

Foundation Building

Quansah remembers his loan to the lower division club 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 was a genuine revelation," Quansah says. "It proved a extremely important part of my career because I wanted to make the next step to playing first-team football. Every game I gained fresh insights. That's when I knew how crucial experience and playing games was. You could say it informed my choice in the off-season."