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"From the outside, it appears insane," the young defender remarks, as he looks back on his summer just gone, when rapid transformation felt like a constant. "But it is one of them ... football is a unpredictable game."

A Brief Summary

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 multi-million pound transfer.

The significant transfer sum brought high expectations as the 22-year-old was charged with finding his feet in a new country and at a team where the churn was dramatic. Erik ten Hag had stepped in to succeed Xabi Alonso and a number of key players were departing or already left – chief among them several high-profile names, Piero Hincapié, influential figures, prominent athletes, experienced professionals, Lukas Hradecky and Jonathan Tah.

League Introduction

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on August 23rd at their home ground to their opponents and the central defender found the net after five minutes, albeit the achievement was overshadowed by sadness. His primary thought was Diogo Jota, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah executed Jota's gamer celebration as a tribute.

"Scoring on your Bundesliga debut, in front of home fans, after five minutes, is certainly a rollercoaster," Quansah states. "But my overwhelming feeling was that it was a homage to Diogo."

Early Challenges

The defender could have been forgiven for wondering what he had committed to at the German club. After the encouraging beginning in their first league game, they fell to a 2-1 defeat and the following game on August 30th was just as bad. The squad squandered comfortable advantages to finish level at their reduced opponents, the tying goal coming in added time. It was no longer his responsibility for much longer. He was sacked on September 1st.

Staying Focused

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

Quansah has kept his head down under the current coach, the Danish tactician, and continued to do what he originally planned to do at the team – compete. Hjulmand has brought stability. His squad have positive results in four league matches along with draws 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 one which shows he has played every minute of the team's season.

International Recognition

It is something that the England head coach has observed. The national team manager was a admirer last season, including him when he announced his initial selection. After omitting him in the summer so that Quansah could focus on the Under-21 European Championship, he provided him with a last-minute inclusion in the autumn when John Stones was forced to withdraw.

Still to win his first cap, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in training and within the squad environment because he was selected at the beginning in Tuchel's squad selection for Wales and Latvia, essentially as a additional defensive option with Stones fit again. The aspiration is a debut. It is another thing he would certainly take in his stride.

Career Choices

"At Leverkusen, the club were keen on signing me for a while and that's not only from the coach," Quansah explains. "They were interested before he got appointed. So understanding it was a type of internal decision and things would remain consistent with whatever coach was to come in ... it was straightforward for me to choose this path.

"There were a lot of players leaving and it's always tough when you lose key players. It has been tough to build the leadership groups but the outcomes we have had [under Hjulmand] demonstrate that we have developed a good squad with talented individuals. It is requiring patience to build and we are still progressing. But if we are achieving positive outcomes and avoiding defeats that is a solid foundation to start."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a difficult separation for Quansah to leave his long-time club, 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 late replacement.

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 unused substitute on multiple matches in the league, his limited playing time comparing unfavourably with his numbers from the prior season when he featured more regularly.

Professional Growth

"I've always learned off top-level professionals around me at Liverpool and it's been so good for my career," he comments. "But as a young centre-back, you need games 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 all over the pitch. I wanted an environment where they can have confidence that I might make mistakes at times but they will look under that and see I can continue developing and improving."

Early Experience

Quansah remembers his loan to the lower division club in the second-half of 2022-23 where he made his first senior appearances – multiple matches, to be precise. There were "numerous wake-up calls", he notes with a grin, beginning with his debut; a 5-1 defeat at their opponents.

"That was a true eye-opener," Quansah reflects. "It was a really valuable part of my career because I wanted to make the next step to playing first-team football. Each match I learned something new. That's where I understood how crucial experience and match practice was. You could say it influenced my decision in the summer."