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"From the outside, it appears crazy," 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 Brief Summary

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

The significant transfer sum equalled high expectations as the 22-year-old was tasked with finding his feet in a foreign land and at a club where the churn was substantial. The new manager had stepped in to replace Xabi Alonso and a host of star performers were gone or going – chief among them several high-profile names, key squad members, influential figures, prominent athletes, Granit Xhaka, established players and Jonathan Tah.

League Introduction

Quansah's first league appearance came on August 23rd at home to their opponents and the centre-half found the net after the opening minutes, though the goal was overshadowed by sadness. All he could think about was his former Liverpool teammate, who was tragically lost in a road incident. Quansah performed his teammate's signature celebration as a tribute.

"To have a goal on your first Bundesliga match, at home, after the opening moments, is certainly a whirlwind," Quansah says. "However, my dominant emotion was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Early Challenges

The defender could have been forgiven for wondering what he had committed to at Leverkusen. After the encouraging beginning in their first league game, they fell to a narrow loss and the following game on August 30th was just as bad. Ten Hag's team threw away 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 much longer. His dismissal came on September 1st.

Staying Focused

Quansah doesn't appear to be the type to fret. If calmness defines his game, it was on show during the interview he gave after joining the national team for the international friendly against Wales and the qualifying match against their next opponents.

Quansah has kept his head down under the new Leverkusen manager, Kasper Hjulmand, and persisted in doing what he originally planned to do at the club – play. Hjulmand has established consistency. His squad have three wins and one draw in four league matches along with ties in each of their Champions League ties. But there is a broader statistic that motivates the player, even bringing a sense of justification. It is the fact that demonstrates he has been ever-present of the club's campaign.

National Team Attention

It is something that the England head coach has noted. The England head coach was a fan previously, including him when he named his first squad. After omitting him 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 forced to withdraw.

Yet to earn his first cap, Quansah must have done something right in training and within the squad environment because he was selected at the beginning in the manager's squad selection for Wales and Latvia, essentially as a fifth centre-back with the regular starter returning. The aspiration is a debut. It is one more milestone he would certainly handle with ease.

Decision Making

"With my new club, the team were keen on signing me for a while and that's not just from the manager [Ten Hag]," Quansah explains. "They were interested before he got appointed. So understanding it was a sort of internal decision and nothing would change with whatever coach was to take over ... 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 establish new hierarchies but the outcomes we have had recently demonstrate that we have got a competitive team with talented individuals. It is going to take time to develop and we are still progressing. But if we are achieving positive outcomes and avoiding defeats that is a good place to start."

Leaving Childhood Club

It had to have been a difficult separation for Quansah to leave 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 was introduced 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 unused substitute on 25 occasions in the league, his four starts and nine appearances falling short compared to his numbers from 2023‑24 when he started nine games.

Professional Growth

"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 need games and I'm will require extensive playing time to be where I want to be.

"I just wanted regular playing opportunities and when you are at a top-level club, it's not promised 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 recognize I can keep pushing and improving."

Early Experience

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

"That represented a true eye-opener," Quansah says. "It proved a extremely important chapter in my development because I wanted to make the next step to regular senior competition. Every game I gained fresh insights. That's when I understood how valuable practical knowledge and playing games was. You could say it influenced my decision in the summer."