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

A Brief Summary

Shortly after claiming victory in the European Under-21 Championship with England at the end of June, Quansah opted to depart from his childhood club, to join Bayer Leverkusen in a £30m deal.

The big fee equalled high expectations as the young defender was charged with finding his feet in a new country and at a team where the turnover was substantial. The new manager had stepped in to succeed Xabi Alonso and a host of key players were departing or already left – chief among them several high-profile names, key squad members, Jeremie Frimpong, Amine Adli, Granit Xhaka, Lukas Hradecky and Jonathan Tah.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's first league appearance came on 23 August at their home ground to Hoffenheim and the centre-half found the net after five minutes, though the goal was undercut by sadness. His primary thought was Diogo Jota, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah performed his teammate's signature celebration as a tribute.

"To have a goal on your Bundesliga debut, at home, after five minutes, is definitely a whirlwind," Quansah states. "But my overwhelming feeling was that it was a homage to Diogo."

Early Challenges

The player could have been forgiven for wondering what he had committed to at Leverkusen. From the promising start in their opening league fixture, they succumbed to a narrow loss and the following game on August 30th was just as bad. Ten Hag's team squandered 2-0 and 3-1 leads to draw 3-3 at their reduced opponents, the equaliser coming in added time. It was no longer his responsibility for much longer. 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 on show during the conversation he participated in after joining the national team for the international friendly against Wales and the qualifying match against their next opponents.

Quansah has kept his head down under the current coach, Kasper Hjulmand, and persisted in doing what he originally planned to do at the club – play. The new manager has established consistency. His squad have three wins and one draw in four league matches along with ties 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 one which shows he has been ever-present of the club's campaign.

National Team Attention

It is something that the England head coach has noted. The national team manager was a admirer previously, selecting Quansah when he named his first squad. After omitting him in the summer so that Quansah could focus on the Under-21 European Championship, he gave him a late call-up in September when John Stones was compelled to pull out.

Yet to earn his international debut, 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, effectively as a additional defensive option with Stones fit again. The dream is a first appearance. It is another thing he would surely handle with ease.

Decision Making

"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 before he got appointed. So understanding it was a type of organizational choice and nothing would change with which manager was to take over ... it was straightforward for me to choose this path.

"We had a lot of players departing and it's consistently challenging when you lose key players. It has been difficult to build the leadership groups 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 still progressing. But if we are getting results and not losing that is a solid foundation to start."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a difficult separation for Quansah to depart from his long-time club, his team since childhood, where he experienced so many significant occasions – such as the Carabao Cup final victory over Chelsea in the previous season when he came on as an extra-time substitute.

Quansah was also a part of last season's Premier League title triumph. Yet his view of much of that was not the one he would have preferred. He was an unused substitute on 25 occasions in the competition, his four starts and nine appearances falling short compared to his numbers from 2023‑24 when he started nine games.

Professional Growth

"I've always learned off some of the best players around me at my former club 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 where I want to be.

"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 somewhere where they can trust that I could errors at times but they will look under 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 debuted at professional level – 16 of them, to be exact. There were "multiple reality checks", he says with a grin, starting with his debut; a heavy loss at their opponents.

"That represented a genuine revelation," Quansah reflects. "It proved a really valuable part of my career because I aimed to take the subsequent progression to regular senior competition. Every game I gained fresh insights. That's when I knew how crucial practical knowledge and playing games was. You could say it influenced my choice in the summer."