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"To an observer, it appears crazy," the young defender remarks, as he reflects on his recent summer, when rapid transformation felt like a constant. "However, that's just how it goes ... football is a crazy game."

A Quick Recap

Days after claiming victory in the European Under-21 Championship with the English national team at the end of June, Quansah opted to depart from Liverpool, to join Bayer Leverkusen in a £30m deal.

The significant transfer sum equalled high expectations as the 22-year-old was charged with settling in in a foreign land and at a club where the churn was dramatic. The new manager had taken over to replace the previous coach and a number of key players were gone or going – chief among them several high-profile names, key squad members, Jeremie Frimpong, Amine Adli, 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 scored after the opening minutes, though the achievement was overshadowed by tragedy. All he could think about was Diogo Jota, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah performed Jota's gamer celebration as a mark of respect.

"To have a goal on your Bundesliga debut, in front of home fans, after the opening moments, is certainly a rollercoaster," Quansah says. "But my overwhelming feeling 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 opening league fixture, 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 10-man Werder Bremen, the tying goal coming in stoppage time. It was not Ten Hag's team for much longer. His dismissal came on 1 September.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah doesn't appear to be the type to fret. If composure characterizes his playing style, it was evident during the interview he gave after being selected for England for the international friendly against Wales and the qualifying match against their next opponents.

Quansah has remained focused 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 team have positive results in their domestic campaign along with ties in each of their Champions League ties. But there is a broader statistic that encourages Quansah, even bringing a measure of vindication. It is the fact that demonstrates he has been ever-present of the team's season.

National Team Attention

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 June so that Quansah could concentrate on the youth tournament, he provided him with a last-minute inclusion in September when John Stones was compelled to pull out.

Still to win his first cap, Quansah must have done something right in training and within the squad environment because he was named at the outset in Tuchel's 24‑man group for Wales and Latvia, essentially 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 club were interested in me for a while and that's not only from the manager [Ten Hag]," Quansah says. "Their interest existed before he got appointed. So understanding it was a type of internal decision and things would remain consistent with which manager 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 establish new hierarchies but the results we have had [under Hjulmand] show that we have developed a competitive team with talented individuals. It is requiring patience to build and we are still progressing. But if we are achieving positive outcomes and not losing that is a good place to begin from."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a difficult separation for Quansah to leave his long-time club, his team since childhood, 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 a part of last season's Premier League title triumph. Yet his view of much of that was not the perspective he would have preferred. He was an unused substitute on multiple matches in the league, his limited playing time comparing unfavourably with his statistics from the prior season when he started nine games.

Career Development

"I've always learned off top-level professionals around me at my former club and it's been so good 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 at my desired level.

"My primary desire was regular playing opportunities and when you are at a team like Liverpool, it's not guaranteed because there are world-class players throughout the squad. 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 recalls his loan to League One Bristol Rovers in the second-half of 2022-23 where he made his first senior appearances – 16 of them, to be precise. There were "multiple reality checks", he says with a grin, beginning with his debut; a 5-1 defeat at Morecambe.

"That represented a genuine revelation," Quansah says. "It proved a really valuable part of my career because I aimed to take the subsequent progression to regular senior competition. Each match I gained fresh insights. That's where I understood how valuable experience and playing games was. You could suggest it influenced my decision in the off-season."