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"To an observer, it seems insane," the young defender remarks, as he looks back on his recent summer, when dizzying change felt like a constant. "However, that's just how it goes ... football is a crazy game."

A Brief Summary

Days after claiming victory in the European Under-21 Championship with England at the conclusion of June, Quansah decided to leave Liverpool, to go to Bayer Leverkusen in a £30m deal.

The significant transfer sum brought big pressure as the 22-year-old was charged with finding his feet in a foreign land and at a club where the turnover was dramatic. The new manager had taken over to replace Xabi Alonso and a host of key players were departing or already left – chief among them several high-profile names, key squad members, Jeremie Frimpong, prominent athletes, Granit Xhaka, Lukas Hradecky and Jonathan Tah.

League Introduction

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on 23 August at their home ground to their opponents and the central defender scored after the opening minutes, albeit the achievement was overshadowed 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 first Bundesliga match, at home, after five minutes, is definitely a rollercoaster," Quansah states. "However, my dominant emotion was that it was a homage to Diogo."

Initial Struggles

The player could have been forgiven for wondering what he had signed up for at the German club. After the encouraging beginning in their opening league fixture, they fell to a 2-1 defeat and the following game on August 30th was equally disappointing. The squad squandered 2-0 and 3-1 leads to draw 3-3 at their reduced opponents, the equaliser coming in added time. It was not Ten Hag's team for very long. He was sacked on September 1st.

Staying Focused

Quansah doesn't appear to be the kind to worry. If composure characterizes his playing style, 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 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 – compete. The new manager 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 motivates the player, even bringing a measure of vindication. It is the one which shows he has played every minute of the club's campaign.

International Recognition

It is something that Thomas Tuchel has noted. The national team manager was a admirer last season, selecting Quansah when he announced his initial selection. After leaving him out in June 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 first cap, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in training and around the camp because he was selected at the beginning in Tuchel's 24‑man group for Wales and Latvia, essentially as a fifth centre-back with Stones fit again. The dream is a debut. It is one more milestone he would surely take in his stride.

Decision Making

"With my new club, the team were keen on signing me for a while and that's not just from the coach," Quansah explains. "They were interested prior to his arrival. So knowing it was a type of internal decision and nothing would change with whatever coach was to come in ... it was easy for me to make that decision.

"There were 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 developed a competitive team with quality players. It is requiring patience to develop and we are still progressing. But if we are achieving positive outcomes and avoiding defeats that is a solid foundation to start."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a wrench for Quansah to depart from his long-time club, his club from the age of five, where he enjoyed so many significant occasions – such as the league cup triumph over their London rivals in 2023‑24 when he was introduced as an late replacement.

Quansah was also a part of the previous campaign's Premier League title triumph. Yet his view of much of that 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 numbers from the prior season when he featured more regularly.

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 extensive playing time to be at my desired level.

"My primary desire was game time and when you are at a top-level club, it's not guaranteed because there are elite performers all over the pitch. I wanted an environment where they can trust that I might make mistakes at certain moments but they will see beyond that and see I can continue developing and pushing."

Foundation Building

Quansah remembers 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 precise. There were "multiple reality checks", he notes with a smile, starting with his first game; 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 regular senior competition. Each match I gained fresh insights. That's when I knew how crucial experience and match practice was. You could say it influenced my choice in the off-season."