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"From the outside, it appears crazy," Jarell Quansah remarks, as he looks back on his summer just gone, when dizzying change felt like a constant. "However, that's just how it goes ... football is a unpredictable game."

A Brief Summary

Shortly after winning the European Under-21 Championship with England at the conclusion of June, Quansah decided to leave Liverpool, to join Bayer Leverkusen in a £30m deal.

The significant transfer sum brought big pressure as the 22-year-old was tasked with settling in in a foreign land and at a team where the churn was substantial. Erik ten Hag had stepped in to replace the previous coach and a number of key players were departing or already left – chief among them several high-profile names, Piero Hincapié, Jeremie Frimpong, prominent athletes, Granit Xhaka, established players and Jonathan Tah.

League Introduction

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 undercut by sadness. His primary thought was his former Liverpool teammate, who was tragically lost in a road incident. Quansah executed his teammate's signature celebration as a mark of respect.

"Scoring on your first Bundesliga match, at home, after five minutes, is certainly 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 committed to at the German club. From the promising start in their opening league fixture, they succumbed to a narrow loss and the next match on 30 August was just as bad. The squad squandered comfortable advantages to draw 3-3 at 10-man Werder Bremen, the equaliser coming in added time. It was no longer his responsibility for very long. His dismissal came on 1 September.

Staying Focused

Quansah doesn't appear to be the type to fret. If calmness defines his game, it was on show during the interview he participated in after joining the national team for the Wembley friendly against their rivals and the qualifying match against Latvia.

Quansah has kept his head down under the new Leverkusen manager, Kasper Hjulmand, and persisted in doing what he originally planned to do at the team – 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 encourages Quansah, even bringing a measure of vindication. It is the fact that demonstrates he has been ever-present of the club's campaign.

National Team Attention

It is something that Thomas Tuchel has noted. The England head coach was a fan previously, including him when he announced his initial selection. After omitting him in June so that Quansah could focus on the youth tournament, he provided him with a last-minute inclusion in September when the experienced defender was forced to withdraw.

Yet to earn his first cap, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in practice sessions and around the camp because he was named at the beginning in Tuchel's 24‑man group for the upcoming matches, effectively as a additional defensive option with the regular starter returning. The dream is a first appearance. It is another thing he would surely take in his stride.

Career Choices

"With my new club, the team were interested in me for a considerable time and that's not just from the manager [Ten Hag]," Quansah says. "Their interest existed prior to his arrival. So understanding it was a sort of internal decision and nothing would change with whatever coach was to come in ... it was straightforward for me to make that decision.

"We had a lot of players leaving and it's always tough when you lose key players. It has been tough to establish new hierarchies but the results we have had [under Hjulmand] show that we have got a competitive team with quality players. It is going to take time to build and we are still progressing. But if we are getting results and not losing that is a good place to start."

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 experienced so many memorable moments – such as the Carabao Cup final victory over Chelsea in the previous season when he was introduced as an late replacement.

Quansah was also a part of the previous campaign's Premier League title triumph. Yet his perspective of much of that was not the one he would have chosen. 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.

Career Development

"I consistently developed off top-level professionals around me at Liverpool and it's been incredibly beneficial for my career," he comments. "However, for a developing defender, you require match experience and I'm going to be needing extensive playing time to be at my desired level.

"My primary desire was regular playing opportunities and when you are at a team like Liverpool, it's not promised because there are world-class players all over the pitch. I wanted an environment 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."

Foundation Building

Quansah recalls his loan to League One Bristol Rovers in the second-half of 2022-23 where he debuted at professional level – multiple matches, to be exact. There were "multiple reality checks", he notes with a smile, beginning with his debut; a 5-1 defeat at their opponents.

"That represented a genuine revelation," Quansah says. "It was a really valuable part of my career because I wanted to make the subsequent progression to regular senior competition. Every game I gained fresh insights. That's when I understood how valuable practical knowledge and match practice was. You could suggest it influenced my decision in the off-season."