🔗 Share this article

"From the outside, it seems crazy," Jarell Quansah says, as he looks back on his summer just gone, 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 U21 European Championship with England at the end of June, Quansah opted to depart from his childhood club, to go to the Bundesliga side in a multi-million pound transfer.

The big fee equalled big pressure as the young defender was tasked with finding his feet in a new country and at a club where the turnover was dramatic. The new manager had taken over to replace the previous coach and a number of star performers were gone or going – including several high-profile names, key squad members, Jeremie Frimpong, Amine Adli, experienced professionals, established players and team leaders.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on August 23rd 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 his teammate's signature celebration as a tribute.

"To have a goal on your first Bundesliga match, at home, after the opening moments, is definitely a whirlwind," Quansah says. "However, my dominant emotion was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Initial Struggles

The player could have been excused for questioning what he had committed to at the German club. From the promising start in their first league game, they succumbed to a narrow loss and the next match on 30 August was equally disappointing. The squad threw away 2-0 and 3-1 leads to draw 3-3 at their reduced opponents, 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 does not come across as the kind to worry. If composure characterizes his playing style, it was on show during the conversation he gave after being selected for England for the Wembley friendly against Wales and the World Cup qualifier against their next opponents.

Quansah has remained focused under the new Leverkusen manager, the Danish tactician, and continued to do what he originally planned to do at the team – play. The new manager has brought stability. His squad have positive results in their domestic campaign along with draws in each of their European matches. But there is a more significant number 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.

International Recognition

It is one that the England head coach has noted. The England head coach was a fan previously, 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 provided him with a late call-up in September when John Stones was compelled to pull out.

Still to win his first cap, 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 Wales and Latvia, effectively as a fifth centre-back with the regular starter returning. The dream is a debut. It is another thing he would certainly handle with ease.

Career Choices

"With my new club, the club were keen on signing me for a considerable time and that's not just from the manager [Ten Hag]," Quansah says. "Their interest existed prior to his arrival. So knowing it was a type of organizational choice and nothing would change with whatever coach was to take over ... it was easy for me to make that decision.

"There were a numerous squad members leaving and it's consistently challenging when you lose key players. It has been tough to build the leadership groups but the outcomes we have had recently show that we have got a good squad with quality players. It is requiring patience to build and we are still progressing. But if we are getting results and not losing that is a good place 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 enjoyed so many memorable moments – such as the league cup triumph over their London rivals in 2023‑24 when he was introduced as an late replacement.

Quansah was also a part of the previous campaign's domestic championship success. Yet his perspective of most of that achievement was not the perspective he would have preferred. He was an unused substitute on 25 occasions in the league, his limited playing time falling short compared to his statistics from 2023‑24 when he featured more regularly.

Professional Growth

"I've always learned off top-level professionals around me at my former club and it's been incredibly beneficial for my professional development," he says. "But as a young centre-back, you require match experience and I'm going to be needing extensive playing time to be at my desired level.

"My primary desire was game time and when you are at a team like Liverpool, it's not promised because there are world-class players throughout the squad. I wanted somewhere where they can have confidence that I could errors at certain moments but they will look under that and recognize I can continue developing and pushing."

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 says with a grin, starting with his debut; a 5-1 defeat at their opponents.

"That represented a genuine revelation," Quansah reflects. "It was a extremely important chapter in my development because I wanted to make the next step to playing first-team football. Each match I learned something new. That's when I understood how crucial experience and playing games was. You could say it influenced my choice in the off-season."