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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 unpredictable game."

A Quick Recap

Days after claiming victory in the U21 European Championship with the English national team at the conclusion of June, Quansah decided to leave his childhood club, to join the Bundesliga side in a multi-million pound transfer.

The big fee equalled high expectations 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 stepped in to replace the previous coach and a number of key players were gone or going – chief among them Florian Wirtz, key squad members, Jeremie Frimpong, prominent athletes, experienced professionals, 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 central defender found the net after the opening minutes, though the achievement was undercut by sadness. All he could think about was his former Liverpool teammate, who was tragically lost in a road incident. Quansah performed Jota's gamer celebration as a mark of respect.

"To have a goal on your Bundesliga debut, at home, after the opening moments, is certainly a whirlwind," Quansah says. "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 the German club. After the encouraging beginning in their first league game, they succumbed to a 2-1 defeat and the following game on 30 August was equally disappointing. The squad squandered 2-0 and 3-1 leads to draw 3-3 at 10-man Werder Bremen, the tying goal coming in added time. It was no longer his responsibility for very long. He was sacked on September 1st.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah doesn't appear to be the type to fret. If composure characterizes his playing style, it was evident during the conversation he participated in after joining England for the Wembley friendly against their rivals and the qualifying match against Latvia.

Quansah has remained focused under the new Leverkusen manager, 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 positive results in four league matches along with ties in each of their European matches. But there is a broader statistic that encourages Quansah, even bringing a sense of justification. It is the fact that demonstrates he has been ever-present of the team's season.

National Team Attention

It is one that Thomas Tuchel has noted. The England head coach was a fan previously, selecting Quansah when he named his first squad. After omitting him in June so that Quansah could focus on the Under-21 European Championship, he provided him with a last-minute inclusion in the autumn when John Stones was compelled to pull out.

Still to win his first cap, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in practice sessions and within the squad environment because he was named at the outset in the manager's 24‑man group for Wales and Latvia, effectively as a fifth centre-back with Stones fit again. The aspiration is a debut. It is another thing he would surely take in his stride.

Career Choices

"At Leverkusen, the team were keen on signing me for a considerable time and that's not only from the coach," Quansah explains. "Their interest existed prior to his arrival. So knowing it was a type of internal decision and things would remain consistent with whatever coach was to come in ... it was straightforward for me to make that decision.

"There were a numerous squad members leaving and it's consistently challenging when you see important figures leave. It has been tough to establish new hierarchies but the outcomes we have had recently demonstrate that we have developed a competitive team with talented individuals. It is requiring patience to build and we are still progressing. But if we are achieving positive outcomes and avoiding defeats that is a good place to begin from."

Leaving Childhood Club

It had to have been a difficult separation for Quansah to leave Liverpool, his club from the age of five, where he enjoyed so many significant occasions – such as the Carabao Cup final victory over Chelsea in 2023‑24 when he was introduced as an late replacement.

Quansah was also a part of last season's Premier League title triumph. Yet his perspective of most of that achievement was not the one he would have chosen. He was an non-playing reserve on multiple matches in the league, his four starts and nine appearances comparing unfavourably with his numbers from the prior season when he featured more regularly.

Career Development

"I consistently developed off top-level professionals around me at my former club and it's been incredibly beneficial for my career," he comments. "But as a young centre-back, you need games and I'm will require extensive playing time to be where I want to be.

"I just wanted regular playing opportunities and when you are at a top-level club, it's not guaranteed because there are elite performers throughout the squad. I wanted somewhere where they can have confidence that I could errors at times but they will look under that and see I can continue developing and improving."

Early Experience

Quansah remembers his temporary transfer to the lower division club in the later part of that season where he debuted at professional level – multiple matches, to be exact. There were "multiple reality checks", he says with a grin, starting with his debut; a 5-1 defeat at Morecambe.

"That represented a true eye-opener," Quansah reflects. "It proved a extremely important chapter in my development because I wanted to make the subsequent progression to regular senior competition. Each match I learned something new. That's where I knew how valuable practical knowledge and playing games was. You could say it informed my decision in the summer."