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

A Brief Summary

Days after claiming victory in the European Under-21 Championship with the English national team 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 22-year-old was charged with settling in in a new country and at a team where the churn was substantial. Erik ten Hag had taken over to succeed the previous coach and a host of key players were departing or already left – including several high-profile names, key squad members, influential figures, Amine Adli, Granit Xhaka, Lukas Hradecky and team leaders.

League Introduction

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on August 23rd at their home ground to their opponents and the centre-half found the net after the opening minutes, albeit the achievement was undercut by sadness. His primary thought was his former Liverpool teammate, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah performed Jota's gamer celebration as a tribute.

"Scoring on your Bundesliga debut, in front of home fans, after five minutes, is definitely a whirlwind," Quansah states. "However, my dominant emotion was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Initial Struggles

The defender could have been excused for questioning what he had signed up for at Leverkusen. After the encouraging beginning in their opening league fixture, they fell to a 2-1 defeat and the following game on August 30th was equally disappointing. The squad squandered 2-0 and 3-1 leads to finish level at 10-man Werder Bremen, the tying goal coming in stoppage time. It was not Ten Hag's team for very long. His dismissal came on 1 September.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah doesn't appear to be the type to fret. If composure defines his game, 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 kept his head down under the current coach, the Danish tactician, and continued to do what he originally planned to do at the club – compete. Hjulmand has brought stability. His team have three wins and one draw in their domestic campaign along with draws in each of their Champions League ties. But there is a more significant number that motivates the player, even bringing a sense of justification. It is the fact that demonstrates he has been ever-present of the club's campaign.

National Team Attention

It is one that the England head coach has observed. The England head coach was a admirer previously, selecting Quansah when he named his first squad. After leaving him out in the summer so that Quansah could focus on the youth tournament, he gave him a late call-up in September when John Stones was compelled to pull out.

Still to win his first cap, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in training and around the camp because he was selected at the beginning in the manager's squad selection for Wales and Latvia, effectively as a additional defensive option with Stones fit again. The aspiration is a first appearance. It is one more milestone he would certainly handle with ease.

Career Choices

"At Leverkusen, the team were keen on signing me for a while and that's not only from the coach," 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 come in ... it was straightforward for me to choose this path.

"We had a numerous squad members departing and it's always tough when you see important figures leave. It has been difficult to establish new hierarchies but the outcomes we have had [under Hjulmand] demonstrate that we have got a good squad with quality players. It is going to take time to build and we are still progressing. But if we are getting results and avoiding defeats that is a solid foundation to begin from."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a wrench for Quansah to depart from Liverpool, his club from the age of five, where he enjoyed so many memorable moments – such as the league cup triumph over Chelsea in 2023‑24 when he came on as an extra-time substitute.

Quansah was also a part of the previous campaign's Premier League title triumph. Yet his view of most of that achievement was not the perspective he would have chosen. He was an non-playing reserve on 25 occasions in the league, his four starts and nine appearances comparing unfavourably with his statistics from the prior season when he featured more regularly.

Professional Growth

"I consistently developed off top-level professionals around me at Liverpool and it's been so good for my career," he says. "However, for a developing defender, you need games and I'm will require extensive playing time to be where I want to be.

"My primary desire was 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 somewhere where they can have confidence that I might make mistakes at times but they will see beyond that and recognize I can keep pushing and improving."

Foundation Building

Quansah remembers his loan to the lower division club in the second-half of 2022-23 where he made his first senior appearances – multiple matches, to be precise. There were "numerous wake-up calls", he notes with a grin, starting with his first game; a 5-1 defeat at their opponents.

"That represented a genuine revelation," Quansah reflects. "It was a really valuable part of my career because I wanted to make the subsequent progression to regular senior competition. Each match I gained fresh insights. That's where I understood how valuable practical knowledge and playing games was. You could say it informed my decision in the summer."