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

A Brief Summary

Days after winning the European Under-21 Championship with the English national team at the conclusion of June, Quansah decided to leave Liverpool, to go to Bayer Leverkusen in a £30m deal.

The significant transfer sum equalled high expectations as the 22-year-old was charged with settling in in a foreign land and at a club where the churn was dramatic. Erik ten Hag had taken over to succeed the previous coach and a number of key players were departing or already left – including several high-profile names, Piero Hincapié, influential figures, prominent athletes, experienced professionals, established players and team leaders.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on 23 August at home to Hoffenheim and the centre-half scored after five minutes, though the achievement was undercut by tragedy. His primary thought was Diogo Jota, who was tragically lost in a road incident. Quansah performed Jota's gamer celebration as a tribute.

"To have a goal on your first Bundesliga match, in front of home fans, after five minutes, is definitely a whirlwind," Quansah states. "However, my dominant emotion was that it was a homage to Diogo."

Early Challenges

The player could have been excused for questioning what he had signed up for at the German club. After the encouraging beginning in their first league game, they fell to a narrow loss and the following game on August 30th was equally disappointing. The squad squandered comfortable advantages to finish level 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 does not come across as the kind to worry. If calmness characterizes his playing style, it was on show during the conversation he participated in after joining the national team for the international friendly against Wales and the World Cup qualifier against their next opponents.

Quansah has remained focused under the new Leverkusen manager, Kasper Hjulmand, and continued to do what he always intended to do at the club – play. The new manager has established consistency. His team have positive results in four league matches along with ties 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 played every minute of the team's season.

International Recognition

It is something that Thomas Tuchel has noted. The national team manager was a fan last season, selecting Quansah when he named his first squad. After leaving him out in June so that Quansah could concentrate on the youth tournament, he provided him with a late call-up in September when the experienced defender was forced to withdraw.

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 fifth centre-back with Stones fit again. The aspiration is a debut. It is one more milestone he would surely handle with ease.

Career Choices

"At Leverkusen, the team were keen on signing me for a while and that's not only from the coach," Quansah explains. "They were interested before he got appointed. So knowing it was a sort of internal decision and things would remain consistent with which manager was to take over ... it was straightforward for me to make that decision.

"We had a lot of players leaving and it's always tough when you see important figures leave. It has been difficult to establish new hierarchies but the outcomes we have had recently show that we have developed a good squad with talented individuals. It is requiring patience to develop and we are not where we want to be. But if we are achieving positive outcomes and not losing that is a good place to begin from."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a difficult separation for Quansah to depart from his long-time club, his club from the age of five, where he experienced so many memorable moments – such as the league cup triumph over their London rivals in 2023‑24 when he came on as an late replacement.

Quansah was also a part of last season's Premier League title triumph. Yet his view of most of that achievement was not the one he would have preferred. He was an non-playing reserve on multiple matches in the league, his limited playing time falling short compared to his statistics from the prior season when he featured more regularly.

Professional Growth

"I've always learned off top-level professionals around me at my former club and it's been so good for my professional development," he says. "But as a young centre-back, 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 team like Liverpool, it's not guaranteed because there are elite performers all over the pitch. I wanted an environment where they can trust that I might make mistakes at times but they will look under that and see I can keep pushing 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 – multiple matches, to be precise. There were "numerous wake-up calls", he says with a grin, beginning with his debut; a 5-1 defeat at their opponents.

"That represented a true eye-opener," Quansah reflects. "It proved a really valuable chapter in my development because I wanted to make the subsequent progression to playing first-team football. Every game I learned something new. That's where I understood how valuable experience and match practice was. You could suggest it informed my decision in the summer."