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"From the outside, it appears 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 crazy game."

A Quick Recap

Days after winning the U21 European Championship with England at the conclusion of June, Quansah decided to leave his childhood club, to join Bayer Leverkusen in a multi-million pound transfer.

The significant transfer sum equalled big pressure as the 22-year-old was tasked with finding his feet in a foreign land and at a club where the turnover was dramatic. Erik ten Hag had taken over to replace the previous coach and a number of star performers were departing or already left – including several high-profile names, key squad members, influential figures, Amine Adli, Granit Xhaka, Lukas Hradecky and Jonathan Tah.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on August 23rd at home to their opponents and the central defender scored after the opening minutes, albeit the goal was undercut by sadness. His primary thought was Diogo Jota, who was tragically lost in a road incident. Quansah executed his teammate's signature celebration as a tribute.

"Scoring on your first Bundesliga match, in front of home fans, after five minutes, is certainly a whirlwind," Quansah states. "But my overwhelming feeling was that it was a homage to Diogo."

Early Challenges

The defender 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 next match on August 30th was equally disappointing. The squad threw away 2-0 and 3-1 leads to draw 3-3 at their reduced opponents, the tying goal coming in stoppage time. It was no longer his responsibility for very long. His dismissal came on September 1st.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah does not come across as the type to fret. If composure characterizes his playing style, it was evident during the conversation he participated in after being selected for the national team for the international friendly against their rivals and the qualifying match against their next opponents.

Quansah has remained focused under the current coach, Kasper Hjulmand, and continued to do what he always intended to do at the team – compete. The new manager has brought stability. His squad have three wins and one draw in their domestic campaign along with draws in each of their Champions League ties. But there is a broader statistic that motivates the player, even bringing a measure of vindication. It is the one which shows he has been ever-present of the team's season.

National Team Attention

It is something that the England head coach has observed. The England head coach was a admirer previously, selecting Quansah when he named his first squad. After omitting him in the summer so that Quansah could concentrate on the Under-21 European Championship, he provided him with a late call-up in September when John Stones was compelled to pull out.

Still to win his international debut, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in training and within the squad environment because he was named at the outset in Tuchel's squad selection for Wales and Latvia, effectively as a fifth centre-back with Stones fit again. The dream is a first appearance. It is one more milestone he would certainly handle with ease.

Decision Making

"At Leverkusen, the team were interested in me for a considerable time and that's not just from the manager [Ten Hag]," Quansah explains. "They were interested prior to his arrival. So knowing it was a type of organizational choice and things would remain consistent with which manager was to take over ... it was easy for me to make that decision.

"We had a numerous squad members departing and it's consistently challenging when you lose key players. It has been difficult to establish new hierarchies but the outcomes we have had [under Hjulmand] demonstrate that we have got a good squad with quality players. It is requiring patience to develop and we are still progressing. But if we are achieving positive outcomes and avoiding defeats that is a good place to start."

Leaving Childhood Club

It had to have been a wrench for Quansah to leave Liverpool, his team since childhood, where he enjoyed so many significant occasions – such as the Carabao Cup final victory over their London rivals in 2023‑24 when he came on as an extra-time substitute.

Quansah was also a part of last season's domestic championship success. Yet his view of much of that was not the perspective he would have chosen. He was an non-playing reserve on multiple matches in the competition, his four starts and nine appearances comparing unfavourably with his statistics from 2023‑24 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 says. "But as a young centre-back, you require match experience and I'm going to be needing hundreds of games to be where I want to be.

"My primary desire was regular playing opportunities and when you are at a team like Liverpool, it's not guaranteed because there are world-class players throughout the squad. I wanted somewhere where they can have confidence that I might make mistakes at times but they will look under that and see I can continue developing and pushing."

Early Experience

Quansah remembers his temporary transfer to the lower division club in the second-half of 2022-23 where he made his first senior appearances – 16 of them, to be precise. There were "multiple reality checks", he notes with a grin, starting with his first game; a 5-1 defeat at their opponents.

"That represented a genuine revelation," Quansah reflects. "It proved a extremely important chapter in my development because I aimed to take the subsequent progression to regular senior competition. Each match I learned something new. That's when I knew how valuable experience and match practice was. You could suggest it informed my decision in the off-season."