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"To an observer, it appears crazy," Jarell Quansah remarks, as he reflects on his summer just gone, when rapid transformation felt like a constant. "But it is one of them ... football is a unpredictable game."

A Brief Summary

Days after claiming victory in the European Under-21 Championship with England at the end of June, Quansah opted to depart from Liverpool, to join Bayer Leverkusen in a multi-million pound transfer.

The significant transfer sum equalled big pressure as the 22-year-old was charged with settling in in a foreign land and at a club where the turnover was substantial. Erik ten Hag had taken over to succeed the previous coach and a host of key players were gone or going – including Florian Wirtz, Piero Hincapié, Jeremie Frimpong, Amine Adli, Granit Xhaka, Lukas Hradecky and team leaders.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's first league appearance came on August 23rd at their home ground to their opponents and the central defender 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 tribute.

"To have a goal on your Bundesliga debut, in front of home fans, after the opening moments, is certainly a rollercoaster," Quansah states. "But my overwhelming feeling was that it was a homage to Diogo."

Initial Struggles

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 fell to a 2-1 defeat and the following game on 30 August was equally disappointing. Ten Hag's team squandered 2-0 and 3-1 leads 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.

Staying Focused

Quansah does not come across as the type to fret. If calmness defines his game, it was on show during the interview he gave after joining England for the international friendly against Wales and the World Cup qualifier against Latvia.

Quansah has kept his head down under the current coach, the Danish tactician, and continued to do what he originally planned to do at the club – play. Hjulmand has brought stability. His team have three wins and one draw in their domestic campaign along with ties in each of their Champions League ties. But there is a more significant number that motivates the player, even bringing a sense of justification. It is the fact that demonstrates he has played every minute of the club's campaign.

International Recognition

It is something that Thomas Tuchel has observed. The England head coach was a fan previously, including him when he named his first squad. After leaving him out in the summer so that Quansah could concentrate on the youth tournament, he provided him with a late call-up in the autumn when John Stones was compelled to pull out.

Yet to earn his international debut, Quansah must have done something right in training and around the camp because he was selected at the outset in the manager's 24‑man group for the upcoming matches, effectively as a fifth centre-back with Stones fit again. The aspiration is a first appearance. 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 only from the coach," Quansah explains. "They were interested before he got appointed. So knowing it was a type of internal decision and nothing would change with whatever coach was to come in ... it was straightforward for me to make that decision.

"There were a lot of players leaving and it's consistently challenging when you lose key players. It has been difficult to establish new hierarchies but the results we have had [under Hjulmand] demonstrate that we have got a competitive team with quality players. 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 start."

Liverpool Departure

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 memorable moments – such as the Carabao Cup final victory over their London rivals in 2023‑24 when he was introduced as an extra-time substitute.

Quansah was also involved in the previous campaign's domestic championship success. Yet his perspective of much of that was not the perspective 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 the prior season when he featured more regularly.

Career Development

"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 says. "However, for a developing defender, you need games 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 world-class players all over the pitch. I wanted somewhere where they can have confidence that I might make mistakes at times but they will see beyond that and see I can continue developing and pushing."

Foundation Building

Quansah remembers 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 "numerous wake-up calls", he notes with a grin, starting with his debut; a heavy loss at their opponents.

"That represented a genuine revelation," Quansah says. "It proved a really valuable chapter in my development because I aimed to take the subsequent progression to playing first-team football. Every game I learned something new. That's where I understood how valuable experience and playing games was. You could say it influenced my choice in the off-season."