🔗 Share this article Leverkusen's Quansah Remains Composed and Continues Onward in His Steady Rise to Stardom "From the outside, it appears insane," Jarell Quansah says, as he reflects on his recent summer, when dizzying change 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 England at the end of June, Quansah decided to leave his childhood club, to join the Bundesliga side in a multi-million pound transfer. The significant transfer sum brought big pressure as the 22-year-old was tasked with finding his feet in a new country and at a team where the turnover was substantial. The new manager had taken over to succeed Xabi Alonso and a host of star performers were gone or going – chief among them several high-profile names, key squad members, Jeremie Frimpong, prominent athletes, Granit Xhaka, established players and team leaders. League Introduction Quansah's first league appearance came on August 23rd at their home ground to Hoffenheim and the central defender scored after the opening minutes, though the goal was undercut 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 tribute. "Scoring on your Bundesliga debut, at home, after the opening moments, is certainly a whirlwind," Quansah says. "However, my dominant emotion was that it was a homage to Diogo." Early Challenges The player could have been forgiven for wondering what he had committed to at Leverkusen. After the encouraging beginning in their first league game, they succumbed to a narrow loss and the following game on 30 August was equally disappointing. The squad threw away comfortable advantages to finish level at 10-man Werder Bremen, the equaliser coming in added time. It was no longer his responsibility for very long. He was sacked on 1 September. Maintaining Composure Quansah doesn't appear to be the type to fret. If calmness defines his game, it was evident during the interview he participated in after being selected for the national team for the Wembley friendly against Wales and the qualifying match against Latvia. Quansah has kept his head down under the new Leverkusen manager, the Danish tactician, and persisted in doing what he always intended to do at the team – play. The new manager has brought stability. His team have positive results in four league matches along with draws in each of their Champions League ties. But there is a broader statistic that motivates the player, even bringing a measure of vindication. It is the fact that demonstrates 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 admirer previously, including him when he named his first squad. After leaving him out in June so that Quansah could focus on the Under-21 European Championship, he provided him with a late call-up in September when the experienced defender was compelled to pull out. Still to win his international debut, Quansah must have done something right in practice sessions and around the camp because he was named at the outset in Tuchel's squad selection for Wales and Latvia, essentially as a additional defensive option with the regular starter returning. The dream is a debut. It is one more milestone he would surely take in his stride. Career Choices "With my new club, the club were interested in me for a considerable time and that's not only from the coach," Quansah says. "They were interested prior to his arrival. So understanding it was a sort of organizational choice and things would remain consistent with whatever coach was to take over ... it was easy for me to make that decision. "We had a lot of players leaving and it's always tough when you see important figures leave. It has been difficult to establish new hierarchies but the outcomes we have had [under Hjulmand] demonstrate that we have got a good squad with quality players. It is going to take time to build and we are not where we want to be. But if we are getting results and not losing that is a solid foundation to start." 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 a part of the previous campaign's domestic championship success. Yet his view of much of that was not the one he would have chosen. He was an non-playing reserve on 25 occasions in the league, his four starts and nine appearances comparing unfavourably with his statistics from 2023‑24 when he started nine games. Professional Growth "I consistently developed off top-level professionals around me at Liverpool and it's been so good for my career," he says. "However, for a developing defender, you require match experience 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 somewhere where they can trust that I could errors at certain moments but they will look under that and see I can continue developing and pushing." Early Experience Quansah recalls his temporary transfer to the lower division club in the second-half of 2022-23 where he debuted at professional level – multiple matches, to be exact. There were "multiple reality checks", he notes with a grin, starting with his first game; a heavy loss at Morecambe. "That was a true eye-opener," Quansah says. "It was 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 when I understood how crucial experience and playing games was. You could suggest it informed my decision in the summer."