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"From the outside, it seems crazy," Jarell Quansah says, as he reflects on his recent summer, when rapid transformation felt like a constant. "But it is one of them ... football is a unpredictable game."

A Quick Recap

Days after claiming victory in the U21 European Championship with the English national team at the end of June, Quansah decided to leave 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 team where the churn was substantial. Erik ten Hag had taken over to succeed the previous coach and a number of key players were departing or already left – chief among them Florian Wirtz, Piero Hincapié, Jeremie Frimpong, prominent athletes, Granit Xhaka, Lukas Hradecky and team leaders.

League Introduction

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on 23 August at their home ground to their opponents and the centre-half scored after five minutes, albeit the goal was overshadowed by sadness. All he could think about was his former Liverpool teammate, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah executed Jota's gamer celebration as a tribute.

"Scoring on your first Bundesliga match, in front of home fans, after five minutes, is definitely a whirlwind," Quansah says. "But my overwhelming feeling was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Early Challenges

The defender could have been forgiven for wondering what he had committed to at the German club. From the promising start in their first league game, they succumbed to a 2-1 defeat and the following game on 30 August was equally disappointing. Ten Hag's team squandered comfortable advantages to draw 3-3 at their reduced opponents, the equaliser coming in added time. It was no longer his responsibility for much longer. His dismissal came on September 1st.

Staying Focused

Quansah does not come across as the kind to worry. If calmness characterizes his playing style, it was evident during the interview he participated in after joining the national team for the Wembley friendly against their rivals 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 established consistency. His team have positive results in their domestic campaign along with ties in each of their European matches. But there is a broader statistic that encourages Quansah, even bringing a sense of justification. It is the fact that demonstrates he has been ever-present of the team's season.

National Team Attention

It is something that Thomas Tuchel has observed. The national team manager was a admirer previously, including him when he announced his initial selection. After leaving him out in the summer so that Quansah could focus on the Under-21 European Championship, he provided him with a last-minute inclusion in September when the experienced defender was compelled to pull out.

Still to win his international debut, Quansah must have done something right in training and within the squad environment because he was selected at the outset in the manager's 24‑man group for Wales and Latvia, effectively as a additional defensive option with the regular starter returning. The dream is a first appearance. It is another thing he would surely take in his stride.

Decision Making

"At Leverkusen, the team were interested in me for a while and that's not only from the manager [Ten Hag]," Quansah explains. "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 straightforward for me to make that decision.

"We had a lot of players departing and it's always tough when you see important figures leave. It has been difficult to build the leadership groups but the outcomes we have had [under Hjulmand] demonstrate that we have got a competitive team with quality players. 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 begin from."

Leaving Childhood Club

It had to have been a wrench for Quansah to depart from Liverpool, his club from the age of five, where he experienced so many memorable moments – such as the league cup triumph over Chelsea in 2023‑24 when he came on as an extra-time substitute.

Quansah was also a part of the previous campaign's domestic championship success. Yet his view of most of that achievement was not the perspective he would have chosen. He was an non-playing reserve on 25 occasions in the competition, his four starts and nine appearances comparing unfavourably with his statistics from the prior season when he started nine games.

Career Development

"I consistently developed off top-level professionals around me at my former club and it's been incredibly beneficial for my career," he says. "However, for a developing defender, you require match experience and I'm going to be needing extensive playing time to be at my desired level.

"I just wanted game time and when you are at a team like Liverpool, it's not guaranteed because there are world-class players all over the pitch. I wanted an environment where they can trust that I could errors at times but they will see beyond that and see I can continue developing and improving."

Foundation Building

Quansah recalls his temporary transfer to the lower division club in the later part of that season where he made his first senior appearances – 16 of them, to be precise. There were "numerous wake-up calls", he notes with a grin, starting with his debut; a heavy loss at their opponents.

"That represented a true eye-opener," Quansah says. "It proved a extremely important part of my career because I wanted to make the next step to playing first-team football. Each match I gained fresh insights. That's where I understood how crucial experience and playing games was. You could say it informed my decision in the summer."