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"From the outside, it seems insane," Jarell Quansah remarks, as he looks back on his recent summer, when rapid transformation felt like a constant. "But it is one of them ... football is a crazy game."

A Quick Recap

Shortly after winning the U21 European Championship with the English national team at the conclusion of June, Quansah decided to leave his childhood club, to join Bayer Leverkusen in a £30m deal.

The big fee brought high expectations as the 22-year-old was charged with finding his feet in a foreign land and at a club where the churn was dramatic. The new manager had stepped in to replace Xabi Alonso and a host of key players were departing or already left – chief among them Florian Wirtz, key squad members, influential figures, prominent athletes, Granit Xhaka, established players and Jonathan Tah.

League Introduction

Quansah's first league appearance came on August 23rd at their home ground to their opponents and the centre-half scored after the opening minutes, though the achievement was undercut by tragedy. All he could think about was his former Liverpool teammate, who was tragically lost in a road incident. Quansah executed his teammate's signature celebration as a tribute.

"Scoring on your first Bundesliga match, at home, after five minutes, is definitely a rollercoaster," Quansah states. "However, my dominant emotion was that it was a homage to Diogo."

Initial Struggles

The player could have been excused for questioning what he had committed to at the German club. After the encouraging beginning in their first league game, they fell to a narrow loss and the following game on 30 August was equally disappointing. The squad squandered comfortable advantages to draw 3-3 at their reduced opponents, the equaliser coming in added time. It was not Ten Hag's team for very long. He was sacked on 1 September.

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 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 persisted in doing what he always intended to do at the club – compete. The new manager 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 broader statistic that motivates the player, even bringing a sense of justification. It is the fact that demonstrates he has been ever-present of the team's season.

International Recognition

It is something that Thomas Tuchel has noted. The England head coach was a fan previously, including him when he announced his initial selection. After leaving him out in the summer so that Quansah could concentrate on the Under-21 European Championship, he gave him a late call-up in the autumn when the experienced defender 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 Tuchel's 24‑man group for the upcoming matches, essentially as a fifth centre-back with Stones fit again. The dream is a first appearance. It is one more milestone he would certainly handle with ease.

Decision Making

"With my new club, the team were keen on signing me for a while and that's not just from the manager [Ten Hag]," Quansah explains. "They were interested prior to his arrival. So knowing it was a sort of organizational choice and nothing would change with whatever coach was to come in ... it was easy for me to make that decision.

"There were 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 [under Hjulmand] show that we have got a good squad with talented individuals. It is going to take time to build and we are still progressing. But if we are achieving positive outcomes and avoiding defeats that is a good place to start."

Leaving Childhood Club

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 significant occasions – such as the Carabao Cup final victory over their London rivals in 2023‑24 when he was introduced as an late replacement.

Quansah was also a part of the previous campaign's domestic championship success. Yet his view of much of that was not the perspective he would have preferred. He was an unused substitute on multiple matches in the competition, his limited playing time comparing unfavourably with his numbers from 2023‑24 when he featured more regularly.

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.

"My primary desire was game time and when you are at a top-level club, it's not guaranteed because there are world-class players all over the pitch. I wanted somewhere where they can trust that I could errors at times but they will see beyond that and see I can continue developing and improving."

Early Experience

Quansah remembers his loan to the lower division club in the later part of that season where he made his first senior appearances – 16 of them, to be exact. There were "numerous wake-up calls", he says with a smile, starting with his first game; a heavy loss at Morecambe.

"That was a true eye-opener," Quansah reflects. "It proved a really valuable part of my career because I wanted to make the next step to playing first-team football. Each match I learned something new. That's when I knew how valuable experience and match practice was. You could suggest it influenced my choice in the summer."