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"To an observer, it appears crazy," Jarell Quansah says, as he looks back on his recent summer, when dizzying change felt like a constant. "However, that's just how it goes ... football is a unpredictable game."

A Quick Recap

Shortly after winning the European Under-21 Championship with the English national team at the conclusion of June, Quansah opted to depart from Liverpool, to join the Bundesliga side in a £30m deal.

The big fee brought big pressure as the 22-year-old was charged with settling in in a new country and at a club where the churn was substantial. The new manager had stepped in to replace the previous coach and a host of key players were departing or already left – including Florian Wirtz, Piero Hincapié, influential figures, Amine Adli, experienced professionals, Lukas Hradecky and Jonathan Tah.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's first league appearance came on August 23rd at home to their opponents and the central defender scored after five minutes, though the goal was overshadowed by sadness. All he could think about was his former Liverpool teammate, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah performed his teammate's signature celebration as a tribute.

"Scoring on your first Bundesliga match, at home, after the opening moments, is certainly a whirlwind," Quansah states. "But my overwhelming feeling was that it was a homage to Diogo."

Initial Struggles

The player could have been forgiven for wondering what he had signed up for at Leverkusen. After the encouraging beginning in their opening league fixture, they succumbed to a 2-1 defeat and the following game on 30 August was just as bad. The squad squandered comfortable advantages to draw 3-3 at their reduced opponents, the equaliser coming in added time. It was not Ten Hag's team for very long. His dismissal came on September 1st.

Staying Focused

Quansah does not come across as the type to fret. If composure defines his game, it was evident during the interview he gave after being selected for the national team for the international friendly against Wales and the World Cup qualifier against Latvia.

Quansah has remained focused under the current coach, Kasper Hjulmand, and continued to do what he always intended to do at the team – play. Hjulmand has established consistency. His squad have positive results in four league matches along with ties in each of their Champions League ties. But there is a broader statistic 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 one that the England head coach has observed. The England head coach was a admirer previously, selecting Quansah when he named his first squad. After leaving him out in the summer so that Quansah could concentrate on the Under-21 European Championship, he gave him a late call-up in the autumn when the experienced defender was compelled to pull out.

Yet to earn his international debut, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in practice sessions and around the camp because he was selected at the outset in Tuchel's 24‑man group for the upcoming matches, essentially as a additional defensive option with Stones fit again. The dream is a debut. It is another thing he would certainly handle with ease.

Decision Making

"At Leverkusen, the club were interested in me for a while and that's not only from the coach," Quansah says. "They were interested prior to his arrival. So knowing it was a type of internal decision and nothing would change with whatever coach was to take over ... it was easy for me to choose this path.

"There were a numerous squad members leaving and it's consistently challenging when you see important figures leave. It has been difficult to establish new hierarchies but the outcomes we have had [under Hjulmand] show that we have developed a competitive team with talented individuals. It is requiring patience to develop and we are not where we want to be. 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 his long-time club, his club from the age of five, where he experienced so many significant occasions – such as the Carabao Cup final victory over their London rivals in 2023‑24 when he came on as an late replacement.

Quansah was also involved in the previous campaign's domestic championship success. Yet his view of most of that achievement was not the one he would have preferred. He was an non-playing reserve on 25 occasions in the league, his limited playing time falling short compared to his statistics from 2023‑24 when he started nine games.

Career Development

"I've always learned off top-level professionals around me at Liverpool and it's been so good for my professional development," he comments. "But as a young centre-back, you require match experience and I'm will require hundreds of games 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 elite performers all over the pitch. I wanted an environment where they can trust that I might make mistakes at certain moments but they will see beyond that and see I can keep pushing 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 precise. There were "numerous wake-up calls", he says with a grin, beginning with his first game; a 5-1 defeat at Morecambe.

"That was a genuine revelation," Quansah reflects. "It proved a extremely important chapter in my development because I aimed to take the next step to regular senior competition. Each match I learned something new. That's when I knew how valuable experience and match practice was. You could suggest it influenced my choice in the off-season."