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"To an observer, it appears insane," 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 European Under-21 Championship with England at the end of June, Quansah opted to depart from Liverpool, to join Bayer Leverkusen in a multi-million pound transfer.

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

Bundesliga Debut

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

"To have a goal on your Bundesliga debut, at home, after five minutes, is definitely a whirlwind," Quansah states. "However, my dominant emotion was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Initial Struggles

The defender could have been excused for questioning what he had committed to at Leverkusen. From the promising start in their opening league fixture, they succumbed to a 2-1 defeat and the next match on 30 August was just as bad. Ten Hag's team threw away 2-0 and 3-1 leads to finish level at 10-man Werder Bremen, the equaliser coming in stoppage time. It was not Ten Hag's team for very long. His dismissal came on 1 September.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah doesn't appear to be the kind to worry. If calmness characterizes his playing style, it was evident during the interview he participated in after joining the national team for the international friendly against their rivals and the qualifying match against their next opponents.

Quansah has remained focused under the new Leverkusen manager, the Danish tactician, 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 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 sense of justification. It is the one which shows he has been ever-present of the club's campaign.

National Team Attention

It is one that Thomas Tuchel has observed. The national team manager was a admirer last season, selecting Quansah when he announced his initial selection. After leaving him out in the summer so that Quansah could focus on the Under-21 European Championship, he gave him a last-minute inclusion in September when the experienced defender 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 beginning in Tuchel's squad selection for Wales and Latvia, effectively as a additional defensive option with the regular starter returning. The dream is a first appearance. It is one more milestone he would surely handle with ease.

Decision Making

"At Leverkusen, the team were interested in me for a considerable time and that's not only from the coach," Quansah explains. "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 take over ... it was straightforward for me to choose this path.

"We had a lot of players leaving and it's always tough 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 developed a good squad with talented individuals. 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."

Leaving Childhood Club

It had to have been a difficult separation for Quansah to leave Liverpool, his team since childhood, where he experienced so many memorable moments – such as the league cup triumph 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 perspective of most of that achievement was not the perspective he would have chosen. He was an non-playing reserve on 25 occasions in the league, his four starts and nine appearances falling short compared to his numbers from the prior season when he started nine games.

Career Development

"I've always learned off top-level professionals around me at my former club and it's been so good for my professional development," he comments. "But as a young centre-back, you need games and I'm going to be needing extensive playing time to be at my desired level.

"My primary desire was regular playing opportunities and when you are at a top-level club, it's not guaranteed because there are world-class players throughout the squad. I wanted somewhere where they can trust that I might make mistakes at certain moments but they will see beyond that and recognize I can continue developing and improving."

Foundation Building

Quansah recalls his loan to the lower division club in the later part of that season where he debuted at professional level – 16 of them, to be exact. There were "numerous wake-up calls", he notes with a grin, beginning with his debut; a heavy loss at Morecambe.

"That was a genuine revelation," Quansah reflects. "It proved a extremely important part of my career because I aimed to take the subsequent progression to playing first-team football. Every game I learned something new. That's when I understood how crucial practical knowledge and playing games was. You could say it influenced my decision in the summer."