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"To an observer, it appears insane," Jarell Quansah says, 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 Quick Recap

Days after winning the U21 European Championship with the English national team at the conclusion of June, Quansah opted to depart from Liverpool, to go to Bayer Leverkusen in a £30m deal.

The big fee brought high expectations as the young defender was charged with finding his feet in a foreign land and at a team where the turnover was dramatic. Erik ten Hag had stepped in to replace the previous coach and a host of star performers were gone or going – chief among them several high-profile names, key squad members, influential figures, prominent athletes, experienced professionals, Lukas Hradecky and Jonathan Tah.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on August 23rd at home to Hoffenheim and the central defender scored after five minutes, albeit the achievement was undercut by tragedy. His primary thought was his former Liverpool teammate, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah executed Jota's gamer celebration as a mark of respect.

"Scoring on your Bundesliga debut, at home, after the opening moments, is certainly a rollercoaster," Quansah says. "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 Leverkusen. After the encouraging beginning in their opening league fixture, they succumbed to a narrow loss and the next match on 30 August was equally disappointing. Ten Hag's team squandered comfortable advantages to finish level at their reduced opponents, the equaliser coming in stoppage time. It was no longer his responsibility for very long. He was sacked on 1 September.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah doesn't appear to be the kind to worry. If calmness defines his game, it was evident during the conversation he participated in after being selected for the national team for the international friendly against Wales and the World Cup qualifier against Latvia.

Quansah has kept his head down under the new Leverkusen manager, Kasper Hjulmand, and persisted in doing what he always intended to do at the team – play. Hjulmand has brought stability. His squad have positive results in four league matches along with ties in each of their Champions League ties. But there is a broader statistic that motivates the player, even bringing a sense of justification. It is the fact that demonstrates he has been ever-present of the team's season.

International Recognition

It is one that the England head coach has noted. The national team manager was a admirer last season, selecting Quansah when he announced his initial selection. After omitting him in the summer so that Quansah could concentrate on the youth tournament, he gave him a late call-up in the autumn when the experienced defender was compelled to pull out.

Still to win his international debut, Quansah must have done something right in practice sessions and around the camp because he was named at the outset in Tuchel's squad selection for Wales and Latvia, effectively as a fifth centre-back with the regular starter returning. The dream is a debut. It is one more milestone he would surely handle with ease.

Career Choices

"With my new club, the club were interested in me for a considerable time and that's not only from the manager [Ten Hag]," Quansah explains. "They were interested before he got appointed. So knowing it was a type of organizational choice and nothing would change with which manager was to come in ... it was easy for me to choose this path.

"We had a lot of players departing and it's consistently challenging when you see important figures leave. It has been tough to establish new hierarchies but the results we have had recently demonstrate that we have got a competitive team with quality players. It is going to take time to develop and we are not where we want to be. But if we are achieving positive outcomes and not losing that is a solid foundation to start."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a difficult separation for Quansah to depart from his long-time club, his team since childhood, where he enjoyed so many memorable moments – such as the league cup triumph over Chelsea in 2023‑24 when he was introduced as an late replacement.

Quansah was also involved in the previous campaign'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 numbers from 2023‑24 when he featured more regularly.

Professional Growth

"I've always learned off some of the best players around me at my former club 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 where I want to be.

"My primary desire was game time 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 trust that I could errors at times but they will see beyond that and recognize I can keep pushing and improving."

Foundation Building

Quansah remembers his temporary transfer to the lower division club in the second-half of 2022-23 where he debuted at professional level – multiple matches, to be precise. There were "numerous wake-up calls", he says with a grin, starting with his debut; a 5-1 defeat at their opponents.

"That was a true eye-opener," Quansah says. "It was a really valuable chapter in my development because I wanted to make the subsequent progression to playing first-team football. Each match I learned something new. That's where I understood how valuable practical knowledge and playing games was. You could suggest it influenced my decision in the off-season."