🔗 Share this article

"From the outside, it appears insane," Jarell Quansah says, as he looks back on his recent summer, when dizzying change felt like a constant. "But it is one of them ... football is a crazy game."

A Brief Summary

Days after winning the U21 European Championship with England at the end of June, Quansah opted to depart from Liverpool, to join the Bundesliga side in a multi-million pound transfer.

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 dramatic. Erik ten Hag had stepped in to replace Xabi Alonso and a number of key players were gone or going – chief among them several high-profile names, Piero Hincapié, influential figures, Amine Adli, experienced professionals, Lukas Hradecky and team leaders.

League Introduction

Quansah's first league appearance came on August 23rd at home to Hoffenheim and the centre-half scored after five minutes, though the goal was undercut by tragedy. His primary thought was his former Liverpool teammate, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah executed Jota's gamer celebration as a tribute.

"To have a goal on your Bundesliga debut, in front of home fans, after the opening moments, 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 signed up for at Leverkusen. After the encouraging beginning in their opening league fixture, they fell to a narrow loss and the next match on 30 August was just as bad. The squad squandered 2-0 and 3-1 leads to finish level at 10-man Werder Bremen, the equaliser coming in added time. It was no longer his responsibility for very long. His dismissal came on September 1st.

Staying Focused

Quansah doesn't appear to be the kind to worry. If composure defines his game, it was on show during the interview he participated in after being selected for England for the Wembley friendly against their rivals and the qualifying match against their next opponents.

Quansah has remained focused under the current coach, Kasper Hjulmand, and continued to do what he originally planned to do at the team – play. 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 measure of vindication. It is the one which shows he has played every minute of the team's season.

International Recognition

It is something that Thomas Tuchel has noted. The national team manager was a admirer previously, including him when he named his first squad. After omitting him in June so that Quansah could concentrate on the youth tournament, he gave him a late call-up in the autumn when John Stones 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 named at the beginning in the manager's squad selection for Wales and Latvia, effectively as a fifth centre-back with Stones fit again. The aspiration is a debut. It is one more milestone he would surely take in his stride.

Decision Making

"At Leverkusen, the club were interested in 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 which manager was to come in ... it was straightforward for me to choose this path.

"There were a numerous squad members leaving and it's consistently challenging when you lose key players. It has been difficult to build the leadership groups but the outcomes we have had recently demonstrate that we have got a good squad with quality players. It is going to take time to build and we are still progressing. But if we are getting results 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 Liverpool, his team since childhood, where he experienced so many memorable moments – such as the league cup triumph over Chelsea in the previous season when he was introduced as an late replacement.

Quansah was also involved in last season's domestic championship success. Yet his perspective 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 comparing unfavourably with his statistics from 2023‑24 when he started nine games.

Professional Growth

"I consistently developed off some of the best players around me at Liverpool and it's been incredibly beneficial for my career," he says. "However, for a developing defender, you need games and I'm will require extensive playing time to be at my desired level.

"I just wanted regular playing opportunities and when you are at a top-level club, it's not guaranteed because there are elite performers throughout the squad. I wanted an environment where they can have confidence that I might make mistakes at certain moments but they will see beyond that and recognize I can continue developing and pushing."

Foundation Building

Quansah recalls his temporary transfer to the lower division club in the second-half of 2022-23 where he debuted at professional level – 16 of them, to be exact. There were "numerous wake-up calls", he notes with a smile, starting with his debut; a 5-1 defeat at their opponents.

"That was a genuine revelation," Quansah says. "It proved a really valuable part of my career because I wanted to make the subsequent progression to playing first-team football. Each match I learned something new. That's where I knew how crucial practical knowledge and match practice was. You could suggest it influenced my choice in the summer."