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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 unpredictable game."

A Quick Recap

Days after winning the U21 European Championship with the English national team at the end of June, Quansah opted to depart from Liverpool, to join the Bundesliga side in a £30m deal.

The significant transfer sum brought high expectations as the young defender was tasked with finding his feet in a new country and at a team where the churn was substantial. The new manager had taken over to replace Xabi Alonso and a host of key players were departing or already left – including Florian Wirtz, key squad members, influential figures, prominent athletes, experienced professionals, established players and team leaders.

League Introduction

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on 23 August at their home ground to Hoffenheim and the central defender found the net after the opening minutes, though the goal was undercut by sadness. All he could think about was Diogo Jota, who was tragically lost in a road incident. Quansah performed his teammate's signature celebration as a tribute.

"To have a goal on your first Bundesliga match, at home, after the opening moments, is certainly a whirlwind," Quansah states. "However, my dominant emotion was that it was a homage to Diogo."

Initial Struggles

The defender could have been forgiven for wondering what he had signed up for at Leverkusen. After the encouraging beginning in their first league game, they fell to a 2-1 defeat and the following game on August 30th was just as bad. Ten Hag's team squandered 2-0 and 3-1 leads to finish level at 10-man Werder Bremen, the equaliser coming in added time. It was not Ten Hag's team for very long. He was sacked on September 1st.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah does not come across as the kind to worry. If calmness defines his game, it was evident during the interview he gave after joining England for the Wembley friendly against their rivals and the qualifying match against their next opponents.

Quansah has kept his head down under the current coach, Kasper Hjulmand, and continued to do what he originally planned to do at the club – compete. The new manager has established consistency. His squad have positive results 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 measure of vindication. It is the fact that demonstrates he has played every minute of the club's campaign.

National Team Attention

It is one that the England head coach 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 concentrate on the Under-21 European Championship, he provided him with a last-minute inclusion in the autumn 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 beginning in Tuchel's squad selection for Wales and Latvia, effectively as a additional defensive option with Stones fit again. The aspiration is a debut. It is another thing he would surely take in his stride.

Decision Making

"At Leverkusen, the team 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 organizational choice and things would remain consistent with which manager was to take over ... it was straightforward for me to make that decision.

"We had a lot of players departing and it's consistently challenging when you see important figures leave. It has been difficult to establish new hierarchies but the results we have had recently show that we have developed a competitive team with talented individuals. It is requiring patience to develop 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 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 was introduced as an extra-time substitute.

Quansah was also involved in the previous campaign's Premier League title triumph. Yet his view of much of that was not the one 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 the prior season when he started nine games.

Professional Growth

"I consistently developed off some of the best players around me at Liverpool and it's been incredibly beneficial for my career," he says. "However, for a developing defender, you require match experience and I'm will require extensive playing time to be at my desired level.

"I just wanted game time and when you are at a top-level club, it's not promised because there are elite performers all over the pitch. I wanted an environment where they can trust that I might make mistakes at certain moments but they will see beyond that and see I can keep pushing and pushing."

Foundation Building

Quansah recalls his loan to League One Bristol Rovers in the second-half of 2022-23 where he made his first senior appearances – 16 of them, to be precise. There were "numerous wake-up calls", he says with a grin, starting with his first game; a 5-1 defeat at their opponents.

"That represented a genuine revelation," Quansah says. "It proved a really valuable chapter in my development because I aimed to take the subsequent progression to playing first-team football. Every game I learned something new. That's where I understood how valuable practical knowledge and playing games was. You could suggest it influenced my decision in the summer."