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"From the outside, it appears insane," the young defender says, as he reflects on his summer just gone, when dizzying change felt like a constant. "But it is one of them ... football is a unpredictable game."

A Quick Recap

Shortly after claiming victory in the U21 European Championship with England at the conclusion of June, Quansah opted to depart from Liverpool, to go to Bayer Leverkusen in a multi-million pound transfer.

The significant transfer sum brought high expectations as the young defender was charged with settling in in a new country and at a team where the churn was dramatic. The new manager had stepped in to replace the previous coach and a number of key players were departing or already left – including several high-profile names, key squad members, Jeremie Frimpong, Amine Adli, experienced professionals, established players and Jonathan Tah.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's first league appearance came on August 23rd at home to their opponents and the central defender found the net after the opening minutes, though the achievement was overshadowed by sadness. All he could think about was his former Liverpool teammate, 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. "However, my dominant emotion was that it was a homage to Diogo."

Early Challenges

The player could have been excused for questioning what he had committed to at the German club. After the encouraging beginning in their first league game, they fell to a narrow loss and the following game on 30 August was equally disappointing. Ten Hag's team threw away comfortable advantages to draw 3-3 at their reduced opponents, the tying goal coming in stoppage time. It was not Ten Hag's team for very long. He was sacked on 1 September.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah does not come across as the kind to worry. If calmness characterizes his playing style, it was evident during the interview he gave after joining the national team for the Wembley friendly against their rivals 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 always intended to do at the club – compete. Hjulmand has established consistency. His squad have positive results in their domestic campaign along with draws in each of their European matches. But there is a broader statistic that encourages Quansah, even bringing a sense of justification. It is the one which shows he has been ever-present of the team's season.

International Recognition

It is something that the England head coach has noted. The England head coach was a fan last season, selecting Quansah when he named his first squad. After leaving him out in the summer 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 international debut, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in practice sessions and around the camp because he was named at the beginning in Tuchel's squad selection for the upcoming matches, essentially as a fifth centre-back with Stones fit again. The aspiration is a debut. It is one more milestone he would certainly handle with ease.

Decision Making

"At Leverkusen, the club were interested in me for a while and that's not just from the manager [Ten Hag]," Quansah explains. "Their interest existed before he got appointed. So knowing it was a type of organizational choice and things would remain consistent with which manager was to come in ... it was easy for me to choose this path.

"There were a lot of players leaving and it's always tough when you see important figures leave. It has been difficult to build the leadership groups but the results we have had recently show that we have developed a good squad with talented individuals. 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."

Leaving Childhood Club

It had to have been a difficult separation for Quansah to depart from Liverpool, his team since childhood, where he enjoyed so many memorable moments – such as the Carabao Cup final victory over Chelsea in the previous season when he was introduced as an late replacement.

Quansah was also involved in the previous campaign's Premier League title triumph. Yet his view of most of that achievement was not the perspective he would have preferred. He was an non-playing reserve on multiple matches in the league, his four starts and nine appearances comparing unfavourably with his numbers from 2023‑24 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 incredibly beneficial for my professional development," he says. "However, for a developing defender, you need games 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 top-level club, it's not promised because there are world-class players all over the pitch. I wanted somewhere 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."

Early Experience

Quansah recalls his loan to the lower division club in the second-half of 2022-23 where he debuted at professional level – 16 of them, to be precise. There were "multiple reality checks", he notes with a smile, beginning with his first game; a 5-1 defeat at their opponents.

"That represented a true eye-opener," Quansah says. "It proved a really valuable chapter in my development because I aimed to take the subsequent progression to regular senior competition. Every game I gained fresh insights. That's when I understood how valuable experience and match practice was. You could say it influenced my choice in the off-season."