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"To an observer, it seems crazy," Jarell Quansah says, as he looks back 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

Shortly after winning the European Under-21 Championship with England at the conclusion of June, Quansah decided to leave Liverpool, to join Bayer Leverkusen in a multi-million pound transfer.

The big fee brought big pressure as the 22-year-old was charged with finding his feet in a foreign land and at a team where the churn was substantial. Erik ten Hag had taken over to replace the previous coach and a host of star performers were gone or going – chief among them Florian Wirtz, Piero Hincapié, influential figures, prominent athletes, Granit Xhaka, established players and Jonathan Tah.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's first league appearance came on 23 August at their home ground to their opponents and the central defender scored after the opening minutes, though the achievement was undercut by sadness. His primary thought was Diogo Jota, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah executed his teammate's signature celebration as a mark of respect.

"To have a goal on your Bundesliga debut, in front of home fans, after the opening moments, is certainly a rollercoaster," Quansah states. "However, my dominant emotion was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Initial Struggles

The player could have been excused for questioning what he had signed up for at the German club. 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. The squad squandered comfortable advantages 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. He was sacked on 1 September.

Staying Focused

Quansah doesn't appear to be the type to fret. If calmness characterizes his playing style, it was on show during the conversation he participated in after joining England for the international friendly against their rivals and the qualifying match against their next opponents.

Quansah has kept his head down under the new Leverkusen manager, Kasper Hjulmand, and continued to do what he always intended to do at the club – play. The new manager has brought stability. His squad have positive results in their domestic campaign along with draws in each of their European matches. But there is a more significant number that encourages Quansah, even bringing a sense of justification. It is the fact that demonstrates he has played every minute of the club's campaign.

National Team Attention

It is something that Thomas Tuchel has noted. The national team manager was a fan previously, including him when he announced his initial selection. After omitting him in June so that Quansah could concentrate on the Under-21 European Championship, he provided him with a last-minute inclusion in September when the experienced defender was compelled to pull out.

Yet to earn his first cap, Quansah must have done something right in training and around the camp because he was selected at the outset in Tuchel's squad selection for Wales and Latvia, essentially as a additional defensive option with Stones fit again. The dream is a first appearance. It is another thing he would surely handle with ease.

Decision Making

"With my new club, the club were interested in me for a considerable time and that's not just from the manager [Ten Hag]," Quansah explains. "Their interest existed prior to his arrival. So knowing it was a type of internal decision and things would remain consistent with which manager was to take over ... it was easy for me to make that decision.

"There were a lot of players departing and it's consistently challenging when you see important figures leave. It has been tough to build the leadership groups but the results we have had [under Hjulmand] demonstrate that we have got a competitive team with talented individuals. It is requiring patience to build and we are still progressing. But if we are achieving positive outcomes and not losing that is a good place 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 Chelsea 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 view of most of that achievement was not the perspective he would have chosen. He was an unused substitute on 25 occasions in the league, his four starts and nine appearances comparing unfavourably with his numbers from 2023‑24 when he started nine games.

Professional Growth

"I consistently developed off top-level professionals around me at Liverpool and it's been incredibly beneficial for my professional development," he says. "However, for a developing defender, you require match experience and I'm going to be needing hundreds of games to be where I want to be.

"I just wanted regular playing opportunities and when you are at a team like Liverpool, it's not promised because there are world-class players all over the pitch. I wanted somewhere where they can trust that I might make mistakes at certain moments but they will look under that and see I can continue developing and pushing."

Foundation Building

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 exact. There were "multiple reality checks", he says with a smile, beginning with his first game; a 5-1 defeat at their opponents.

"That was a true eye-opener," Quansah reflects. "It proved a extremely important chapter in my development because I aimed to take the subsequent progression to playing first-team football. Every game I gained fresh insights. That's when I knew how crucial experience and playing games was. You could suggest it influenced my decision in the off-season."