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"To an observer, it appears crazy," Jarell Quansah says, 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 crazy game."

A Brief Summary

Days after claiming victory in the U21 European Championship with England at the end of June, Quansah decided to leave Liverpool, to go to the Bundesliga side in a £30m deal.

The big fee equalled big pressure as the young defender was tasked with settling in in a new country and at a club where the churn was dramatic. Erik ten Hag had taken over to replace Xabi Alonso and a host of key players were departing or already left – including Florian Wirtz, Piero Hincapié, influential figures, prominent athletes, Granit Xhaka, established players and Jonathan Tah.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on 23 August at home to Hoffenheim and the central defender scored after the opening minutes, albeit the goal was overshadowed by sadness. His primary thought was his former Liverpool teammate, who was tragically lost in a road incident. 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 whirlwind," Quansah states. "However, my dominant emotion was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Early Challenges

The player could have been forgiven for wondering what he had signed up for at Leverkusen. After the encouraging beginning in their first league game, they fell to a 2-1 defeat and the next match on August 30th was just as bad. Ten Hag's team squandered comfortable advantages 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 1 September.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah doesn't appear to be the type to fret. If composure defines his game, it was on show during the interview he participated in after being selected for England for the international friendly against their rivals and the World Cup qualifier against their next opponents.

Quansah has remained focused under the current coach, the Danish tactician, and persisted in doing what he originally planned to do at the club – play. Hjulmand has established consistency. His squad have positive results 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 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 announced his initial selection. After leaving him out in the summer so that Quansah could concentrate on the youth tournament, he provided him with a last-minute inclusion in the autumn when John Stones was compelled to pull out.

Still to win his first cap, Quansah must have done something right in practice sessions and within the squad environment because he was named at the beginning in Tuchel's squad selection for Wales and Latvia, essentially as a fifth centre-back with Stones fit again. The aspiration is a first appearance. It is one more milestone he would surely handle with ease.

Career Choices

"At Leverkusen, the team were keen on signing 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 which manager was to take over ... it was straightforward for me to choose this path.

"There were a lot of players departing and it's always tough when you lose key players. It has been tough to build the leadership groups but the results we have had [under Hjulmand] demonstrate that we have got a good squad with quality players. It is requiring patience to develop and we are not where we want to be. But if we are achieving positive outcomes and avoiding defeats that is a solid foundation to start."

Leaving Childhood Club

It had to have been a difficult separation for Quansah to depart from Liverpool, his team since childhood, where he experienced so many significant occasions – such as the Carabao Cup final victory over their London rivals in the previous season when he came on as an late replacement.

Quansah was also involved in the previous campaign's Premier League title triumph. Yet his perspective of most of that achievement was not the one he would have chosen. He was an unused substitute on 25 occasions in the competition, his limited playing time comparing unfavourably with his statistics from 2023‑24 when he started nine games.

Career Development

"I consistently developed off top-level professionals around me at Liverpool and it's been so good for my professional development," he comments. "However, for a developing defender, you need games and I'm will require hundreds of games to be where I want to be.

"My primary desire was regular playing opportunities and when you are at a team like Liverpool, it's not guaranteed because there are elite performers throughout the squad. I wanted an environment where they can have confidence that I might make mistakes at certain moments but they will see beyond that and see I can continue developing and pushing."

Foundation Building

Quansah recalls his temporary transfer 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 "multiple reality checks", he notes with a smile, starting with his first game; a 5-1 defeat at their opponents.

"That was a genuine revelation," Quansah says. "It proved a really valuable chapter in my development because I wanted to make the next step to regular senior competition. Each match I gained fresh insights. That's when I knew how valuable practical knowledge and playing games was. You could say it influenced my choice in the off-season."