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"To an observer, it seems insane," Jarell Quansah remarks, as he looks back on his recent summer, when rapid transformation felt like a constant. "However, that's just how it goes ... football is a unpredictable game."

A Quick Recap

Days after claiming victory in the U21 European Championship with England at the conclusion of June, Quansah opted to depart from his childhood club, to join Bayer Leverkusen in a £30m deal.

The big fee equalled high expectations as the young defender was charged with settling in in a new country and at a team where the turnover was substantial. Erik ten Hag had stepped in to replace Xabi Alonso and a number of key players were departing or already left – chief among them Florian Wirtz, Piero Hincapié, Jeremie Frimpong, prominent athletes, experienced professionals, Lukas Hradecky and Jonathan Tah.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's first league appearance came on 23 August at home to their opponents and the centre-half scored after the opening minutes, albeit the achievement was undercut by sadness. His primary thought was Diogo Jota, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah executed Jota's gamer celebration as a mark of respect.

"To have a goal on your first Bundesliga match, in front of home fans, after five minutes, 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 forgiven for wondering what he had signed up for at Leverkusen. From the promising start in their opening league fixture, they fell to a narrow loss and the next match on August 30th was equally disappointing. The squad threw away comfortable advantages to draw 3-3 at 10-man Werder Bremen, the equaliser coming in stoppage time. It was not Ten Hag's team for much longer. He was sacked on 1 September.

Staying Focused

Quansah doesn't appear to be the type to fret. If composure characterizes his playing style, it was on show during the interview he gave after being selected for England for the international friendly against Wales and the World Cup qualifier 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 team – play. The new manager has established consistency. His team have positive results in four league matches along with ties in each of their Champions League ties. But there is a more significant number 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.

National Team Attention

It is one that the England head coach has observed. The England head coach was a fan last season, selecting Quansah when he named his first squad. After omitting him in the summer so that Quansah could focus on the Under-21 European Championship, he gave him a last-minute inclusion in the autumn when the experienced defender was forced to withdraw.

Yet to earn his international debut, Quansah must have done something right in training and within the squad environment because he was selected at the beginning in the manager's 24‑man group for the upcoming matches, effectively as a additional defensive option with Stones fit again. The dream is a first appearance. It is another thing he would certainly take in his stride.

Decision Making

"At Leverkusen, the team 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 understanding it was a sort of internal decision and things would remain consistent with whatever coach was to come in ... 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 difficult to build the leadership groups but the outcomes we have had [under Hjulmand] demonstrate that we have developed a good squad with quality players. It is requiring patience to develop and we are still progressing. But if we are getting results and avoiding defeats that is a solid foundation to start."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a difficult separation for Quansah to depart from Liverpool, his club from the age of five, where he experienced so many significant occasions – 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 view of most of that achievement was not the perspective he would have chosen. He was an unused substitute on multiple matches in the league, his limited playing time falling short compared to his numbers from the prior season when he featured more regularly.

Professional Growth

"I consistently developed off top-level professionals around me at my former club and it's been incredibly beneficial for my career," he comments. "But as a young centre-back, you require match experience and I'm going to be needing 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 guaranteed because there are elite performers 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 keep pushing and pushing."

Foundation Building

Quansah recalls his loan to League One Bristol Rovers in the second-half of 2022-23 where he debuted at professional level – 16 of them, to be precise. There were "multiple reality checks", he says with a smile, starting with his first game; a 5-1 defeat at their opponents.

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