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"To an observer, it seems crazy," Jarell Quansah says, as he reflects on his summer just gone, when rapid transformation 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 end of June, Quansah opted to depart from Liverpool, to join the Bundesliga side in a multi-million pound transfer.

The significant transfer sum brought high expectations as the young defender was charged with settling in in a new country and at a club where the churn was substantial. Erik ten Hag had taken over to succeed the previous coach and a host of key players were departing or already left – chief among them several high-profile names, key squad members, Jeremie Frimpong, Amine Adli, experienced professionals, Lukas Hradecky and Jonathan Tah.

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 his former Liverpool teammate, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah performed his teammate's signature celebration as a tribute.

"To have a goal on your Bundesliga debut, at home, after five minutes, is certainly a whirlwind," Quansah says. "However, my dominant emotion 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. After the encouraging beginning in their opening league fixture, they succumbed to a narrow loss and the next match on August 30th was just as bad. The squad threw away 2-0 and 3-1 leads to finish level at their reduced opponents, the equaliser coming in added time. It was not Ten Hag's team for much longer. His dismissal came on 1 September.

Staying Focused

Quansah does not come across as the kind to worry. If composure defines his game, it was on show during the interview he participated in after being selected for England for the Wembley friendly against Wales and the World Cup qualifier against Latvia.

Quansah has remained focused under the current coach, the Danish tactician, and continued to do what he originally planned to do at the club – play. The new manager has established consistency. His team have three wins and one draw in four league matches along with ties in each of their European matches. But there is a broader statistic that motivates the player, even bringing a measure of vindication. It is the one which shows he has played every minute of the team's season.

International Recognition

It is something that the England head coach has observed. The national team manager 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 gave him a late call-up in September when the experienced defender was compelled to pull out.

Yet to earn his first cap, Quansah must have done something right in practice sessions and around the camp because he was named at the beginning in the manager's squad selection for Wales and Latvia, essentially as a additional defensive option with Stones fit again. The aspiration 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 coach," Quansah says. "Their interest existed 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 straightforward for me to make that decision.

"We had a numerous squad members departing and it's always tough when you lose key players. It has been difficult to establish new hierarchies but the results we have had [under Hjulmand] show that we have developed a good squad with talented individuals. It is going to take time to develop and we are still progressing. But if we are getting results and avoiding defeats that is a solid foundation to start."

Leaving Childhood Club

It had to have been a wrench for Quansah to depart from Liverpool, his club from the age of five, where he experienced so many significant occasions – 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 view of much of that was not the one he would have preferred. He was an non-playing reserve on multiple matches in the league, his four starts and nine appearances falling short compared to his numbers from the prior season when he featured more regularly.

Professional Growth

"I consistently developed off some of the best players around me at Liverpool and it's been so good for my professional development," he comments. "But as a young centre-back, you need games and I'm will require hundreds of games to be where I want to be.

"My primary desire was game time and when you are at a team like Liverpool, it's not promised because there are elite performers all over the pitch. I wanted somewhere where they can trust that I could errors at times but they will see beyond that and see I can keep pushing and pushing."

Early Experience

Quansah remembers his loan to the lower division club in the later part of that season where he made his first senior appearances – multiple matches, to be exact. There were "multiple reality checks", he notes with a grin, starting with his first game; a heavy loss at their opponents.

"That was a genuine revelation," Quansah reflects. "It was a extremely important chapter in my development because I aimed to take the next step to playing first-team football. Each match I learned something new. That's when I understood how crucial experience and match practice was. You could say it informed my choice in the off-season."