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"From the outside, it appears insane," 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 crazy game."

A Quick Recap

Days after claiming victory in the European Under-21 Championship with England at the end of June, Quansah decided to leave his childhood club, to go to Bayer Leverkusen in a £30m deal.

The significant transfer sum equalled high expectations as the 22-year-old was charged with settling in in a new country and at a team where the churn was substantial. Erik ten Hag had stepped in to succeed the previous coach and a host of star performers were departing or already left – including Florian Wirtz, key squad members, influential figures, prominent athletes, Granit Xhaka, established players and team leaders.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's first league appearance came on 23 August at home to Hoffenheim and the central defender found the net after five minutes, albeit the achievement was overshadowed by tragedy. All he could think about was his former Liverpool teammate, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah executed his teammate's signature celebration as a tribute.

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

Initial Struggles

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 narrow loss and the following game on 30 August was equally disappointing. Ten Hag's team threw away 2-0 and 3-1 leads to draw 3-3 at their reduced opponents, the equaliser coming in stoppage time. It was no longer his responsibility for much longer. His dismissal came on September 1st.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah doesn't appear to be the type to fret. If composure defines his game, it was evident during the interview he gave after joining England for the Wembley friendly against Wales and the qualifying match against their next opponents.

Quansah has remained focused under the new Leverkusen manager, the Danish tactician, and persisted in doing what he always intended to do at the club – compete. The new manager has brought stability. His team have positive results in their domestic campaign along with ties in each of their European matches. But there is a broader statistic that encourages Quansah, even bringing a sense of justification. It is the one which shows he has been ever-present of the team's season.

National Team Attention

It is one that Thomas Tuchel has noted. The national team manager was a fan previously, including him when he named his first squad. After omitting him in June so that Quansah could concentrate on the youth tournament, he provided him with a late call-up in the autumn when the experienced defender was forced to withdraw.

Still to win his international debut, Quansah must have done something right in training and within the squad environment because he was named at the beginning in the manager's squad selection for the upcoming matches, essentially 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.

Decision Making

"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 says. "Their interest existed before he got appointed. So knowing it was a type of internal decision and things would remain consistent with whatever coach was to come in ... it was straightforward for me to choose this path.

"There were a numerous squad members 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 recently show that we have developed 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 good place to start."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a wrench for Quansah to leave his long-time club, 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 involved in the previous campaign's domestic championship success. Yet his perspective of most of that achievement was not the perspective he would have preferred. He was an unused substitute on 25 occasions in the competition, his limited playing time falling short compared to his statistics from the prior season when he featured more regularly.

Professional Growth

"I've always learned off some of the best players around me at Liverpool and it's been incredibly beneficial for my professional development," he says. "But as a young centre-back, you need games and I'm will require hundreds of games to be where I want to be.

"I just wanted game time and when you are at a team like Liverpool, it's not guaranteed because there are world-class players throughout the squad. I wanted an environment where they can have confidence that I could errors at times but they will look under that and recognize I can continue developing and improving."

Early Experience

Quansah recalls his temporary transfer to League One Bristol Rovers in the later part of that season where he made his first senior appearances – multiple matches, to be exact. There were "numerous wake-up calls", he notes with a smile, starting with his first game; a 5-1 defeat at Morecambe.

"That represented a genuine revelation," Quansah reflects. "It proved a extremely important part of my career because I wanted to make the subsequent progression to playing first-team football. Every game I gained fresh insights. That's when I knew how valuable experience and playing games was. You could suggest it informed my decision in the off-season."