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"From the outside, it appears crazy," Jarell Quansah says, as he looks back 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

Shortly after winning the European Under-21 Championship with England at the end of June, Quansah decided to leave Liverpool, to go to Bayer Leverkusen in a £30m deal.

The big fee equalled high expectations as the 22-year-old was charged with settling in in a foreign land and at a team where the turnover was dramatic. The new manager had stepped in to replace Xabi Alonso and a number of star performers were departing or already left – chief among them several high-profile names, key squad members, Jeremie Frimpong, Amine Adli, experienced professionals, established players and Jonathan Tah.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on August 23rd at their home ground to Hoffenheim and the central defender scored after the opening minutes, albeit the achievement was undercut by tragedy. His primary thought was Diogo Jota, who was tragically lost in a road incident. Quansah executed Jota's gamer celebration as a mark of respect.

"To have a goal on your first Bundesliga match, in front of home fans, after the opening moments, is certainly a whirlwind," Quansah states. "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 committed to at Leverkusen. 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. The squad squandered 2-0 and 3-1 leads to finish level at 10-man Werder Bremen, the equaliser coming in stoppage time. It was not Ten Hag's team for very long. His dismissal came on September 1st.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah does not come across as the type to fret. If composure defines his game, it was on show during the interview he participated in after being selected for the national team for the international friendly against their rivals and the qualifying match against their next opponents.

Quansah has kept his head down under the current coach, the Danish tactician, and persisted in doing what he always intended to do at the team – play. The new manager has brought stability. His team have positive results in their domestic campaign along with ties in each of their European matches. But there is a broader statistic that motivates the player, even bringing a sense of justification. It is the one which shows he has been ever-present of the club's campaign.

National Team Attention

It is one that Thomas Tuchel has observed. The national team manager was a fan last season, selecting Quansah when he named his first squad. After leaving him out in June so that Quansah could concentrate on the youth tournament, he provided him with a late call-up in September when John Stones was forced to withdraw.

Yet to earn his first cap, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in training and around the camp because he was named at the outset in the manager's 24‑man group for the upcoming matches, effectively as a fifth centre-back with the regular starter returning. The dream is a first appearance. It is one more milestone he would certainly take in his stride.

Career Choices

"With my new club, the team were interested in me for a while and that's not just from the coach," Quansah explains. "They were interested prior to his arrival. So understanding it was a type of internal decision and nothing would change with which manager was to come in ... it was straightforward for me to make that decision.

"We had a numerous squad members departing 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 got 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 not losing that is a good place to start."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a difficult separation for Quansah to leave Liverpool, his team since childhood, where he experienced so many significant occasions – such as the Carabao Cup final victory 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 much of that was not the perspective he would have preferred. He was an unused substitute on 25 occasions in the league, his four starts and nine appearances comparing unfavourably with his numbers from the prior season when he featured more regularly.

Professional Growth

"I've always learned off top-level professionals around me at my former club and it's been incredibly beneficial for my professional development," he says. "However, for a developing defender, you require match experience and I'm going to be needing hundreds of games to be at my desired level.

"My primary desire was game time and when you are at a top-level club, it's not guaranteed 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 look under that and recognize I can continue developing and improving."

Foundation Building

Quansah recalls his loan to League One Bristol Rovers in the later part of that season where he made his first senior appearances – multiple matches, to be exact. There were "multiple reality checks", he says with a grin, beginning with his debut; a heavy loss 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 regular senior competition. Every game I gained fresh insights. That's where I knew how valuable experience and match practice was. You could suggest it influenced my decision in the summer."