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

A Brief Summary

Shortly after winning the U21 European Championship with the English national team at the end of June, Quansah opted to depart from Liverpool, to join the Bundesliga side in a multi-million pound transfer.

The big fee brought big pressure as the young defender was tasked with settling in in a new country and at a club where the churn was dramatic. Erik ten Hag had taken over to replace Xabi Alonso and a host of star performers were departing or already left – chief among them Florian Wirtz, key squad members, influential figures, Amine Adli, Granit Xhaka, established players and team leaders.

League Introduction

Quansah's first league appearance came on 23 August at home to Hoffenheim and the centre-half scored after five minutes, though the goal was overshadowed by tragedy. His primary thought was his former Liverpool teammate, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah performed 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 rollercoaster," Quansah says. "But my overwhelming feeling was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Early Challenges

The defender could have been forgiven for wondering what he had committed to at Leverkusen. After the encouraging beginning in their opening league fixture, they fell to a narrow loss and the following game on 30 August was just as bad. Ten Hag's team threw away comfortable advantages to draw 3-3 at 10-man Werder Bremen, the equaliser coming in added 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 kind to worry. If composure defines his game, it was on show during the interview he participated in after being selected for the national team for the Wembley friendly against their rivals and the World Cup qualifier against their next opponents.

Quansah has remained focused under the new Leverkusen manager, the Danish tactician, and continued to do what he originally planned to do at the team – compete. Hjulmand has brought stability. His squad have three wins and one draw in their domestic campaign along with draws in each of their European matches. But there is a more significant number 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.

International Recognition

It is something that the England head coach has noted. The England head coach was a admirer previously, including him when he announced his initial selection. After leaving him out in the summer so that Quansah could focus on the youth tournament, he gave him a late call-up in the autumn when the experienced defender was compelled to pull out.

Still to win his first cap, Quansah must have done something right in practice sessions and around the camp because he was named at the beginning in the manager's 24‑man group for Wales and Latvia, effectively as a fifth centre-back with the regular starter returning. The dream is a debut. It is another thing he would surely take in his stride.

Career Choices

"At Leverkusen, the club were interested in me for a while and that's not just from the manager [Ten Hag]," Quansah says. "They were interested prior to his arrival. So understanding it was a sort of organizational choice and things would remain consistent 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 see important figures leave. It has been tough to establish new hierarchies but the outcomes we have had recently show that we have got a good squad with talented individuals. It is requiring patience to build and we are not where we want to be. But if we are getting results and not losing that is a solid foundation to begin from."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a difficult separation for Quansah to leave his long-time club, his team since childhood, where he experienced so many significant occasions – such as the league cup triumph over Chelsea in the previous season when he was introduced as an extra-time substitute.

Quansah was also a part of last season's domestic championship success. Yet his perspective of much of that was not the perspective he would have chosen. He was an unused substitute on 25 occasions in the league, his limited playing time 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 Liverpool and it's been so good for my professional development," he comments. "But as a young centre-back, you require match experience and I'm will require extensive playing time 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 all over the pitch. I wanted an environment where they can have confidence that I might make mistakes at times but they will look under that and recognize I can keep pushing and pushing."

Early Experience

Quansah recalls his temporary transfer to League One Bristol Rovers in the later part of that season where he debuted at professional level – 16 of them, to be precise. There were "numerous wake-up calls", he says with a smile, beginning with his first game; a 5-1 defeat at their opponents.

"That represented a genuine revelation," Quansah says. "It was a really valuable chapter in my development because I aimed to take the next step to playing first-team football. Each match I learned something new. That's where I knew how valuable experience and playing games was. You could say it informed my decision in the off-season."