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

A Brief Summary

Days after claiming victory in the European Under-21 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 significant transfer sum equalled big pressure as the young defender was tasked with finding his feet in a new country and at a club where the turnover was dramatic. The new manager had taken over to succeed the previous coach and a host of star performers were departing or already left – chief among them Florian Wirtz, key squad members, Jeremie Frimpong, prominent athletes, experienced professionals, established players and Jonathan Tah.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's first league appearance came on 23 August at their home ground to Hoffenheim and the central defender found the net after the opening minutes, albeit the achievement was overshadowed by tragedy. His primary thought was Diogo Jota, who was tragically lost in a road incident. Quansah executed his teammate's signature celebration as a tribute.

"To have a goal on your first Bundesliga match, at home, after the opening moments, 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 forgiven for wondering what he had signed up for at Leverkusen. From the promising start in their opening league fixture, they succumbed to a 2-1 defeat and the next match on 30 August was equally disappointing. Ten Hag's team threw away comfortable advantages 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 1 September.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah does not come across as the kind to worry. If composure characterizes his playing style, it was evident during the interview he gave after being selected for England for the Wembley friendly against Wales and the qualifying match against Latvia.

Quansah has kept his head down under the current coach, Kasper Hjulmand, and persisted in doing what he always intended to do at the club – play. Hjulmand has established consistency. His squad have positive results in four league matches along with draws in each of their Champions League ties. But there is a more significant number that encourages Quansah, even bringing a sense of justification. It is the fact that demonstrates he has played every minute of the club's campaign.

International Recognition

It is one that Thomas Tuchel has observed. The England head coach was a fan previously, including him when he announced his initial selection. After omitting him in the summer so that Quansah could focus on the youth tournament, he gave him a last-minute inclusion in the autumn when John Stones was compelled to pull out.

Still to win his first cap, Quansah must have done something right in practice sessions and within the squad environment because he was selected at the outset in the manager's 24‑man group for Wales and Latvia, essentially as a fifth centre-back with Stones fit again. The dream is a debut. It is one more milestone he would surely handle with ease.

Career Choices

"With my new club, the team were interested in me for a while and that's not just from the manager [Ten Hag]," Quansah explains. "They were interested before he got appointed. So knowing it was a type of organizational choice and things would remain consistent with whatever coach was to take over ... it was straightforward for me to choose this path.

"There were a lot of players leaving and it's always tough when you see important figures leave. It has been tough to build the leadership groups but the outcomes we have had [under Hjulmand] show that we have developed a good squad with talented individuals. It is requiring patience to build and we are still progressing. But if we are achieving positive outcomes and not losing 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 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 the previous season when he was introduced as an extra-time substitute.

Quansah was also involved in last season's Premier League title triumph. Yet his perspective of most of that achievement was not the one he would have preferred. He was an non-playing reserve on multiple matches in the competition, his four starts and nine appearances falling short compared to his statistics from 2023‑24 when he featured more regularly.

Career Development

"I consistently developed off some of the best players around me at my former club and it's been incredibly beneficial for my professional development," he says. "However, for a developing defender, you need games and I'm will require hundreds of games to be at my desired level.

"I just wanted game time and when you are at a team like Liverpool, it's not guaranteed because there are elite performers throughout the squad. I wanted somewhere where they can have confidence that I might make mistakes at certain moments but they will look under that and recognize I can continue developing and improving."

Early Experience

Quansah recalls his temporary transfer to the lower division club in the later part of that season where he made his first senior appearances – 16 of them, to be precise. There were "multiple reality checks", he says with a smile, beginning with his debut; a heavy loss at Morecambe.

"That represented a true eye-opener," Quansah reflects. "It was a really valuable chapter in my development because I aimed to take the subsequent progression to regular senior competition. Each match I learned something new. That's when I knew how valuable practical knowledge and playing games was. You could say it informed my choice in the off-season."