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"From the outside, it seems crazy," the young defender remarks, as he looks back on his recent summer, when rapid transformation felt like a constant. "But it is one of them ... football is a crazy game."

A Brief Summary

Shortly after claiming victory in the European Under-21 Championship with England at the end of June, Quansah decided to leave Liverpool, to join the Bundesliga side 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 club where the churn was dramatic. Erik ten Hag had taken over to replace Xabi Alonso and a host of key players were departing or already left – chief among them Florian Wirtz, Piero Hincapié, Jeremie Frimpong, Amine Adli, experienced professionals, established players and team leaders.

League Introduction

Quansah's first league appearance came on August 23rd at home to their opponents and the centre-half scored after the opening minutes, though the goal was overshadowed by sadness. His primary thought was Diogo Jota, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah executed his teammate's signature celebration as a tribute.

"Scoring on your first Bundesliga match, in front of home fans, after five minutes, is definitely a rollercoaster," Quansah states. "But my overwhelming feeling was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Early Challenges

The player could have been excused for questioning what he had committed to at the German club. From the promising start in their opening league fixture, they fell to a 2-1 defeat and the following game on August 30th was just as bad. 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 much longer. His dismissal came on 1 September.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah does not come across as the kind to worry. If composure characterizes his playing style, it was evident during the conversation he gave after joining the national team for the Wembley friendly against their rivals and the qualifying match against Latvia.

Quansah has remained focused under the new Leverkusen manager, Kasper Hjulmand, and continued to do what he always intended to do at the club – play. The new manager has brought stability. His squad have positive results in four league matches 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.

National Team Attention

It is one that the England head coach has noted. The England head coach was a fan last season, selecting Quansah when he announced his initial selection. After omitting him in June so that Quansah could concentrate on the youth tournament, he gave him a last-minute inclusion in the autumn when the experienced defender was compelled to pull out.

Yet to earn his first cap, Quansah must have done something right in practice sessions and around the camp because he was named at the outset in Tuchel's 24‑man group for the upcoming matches, effectively as a additional defensive option with Stones fit again. The dream is a first appearance. It is another thing he would surely handle with ease.

Decision Making

"With my new club, the team were keen on signing me for a considerable time and that's not just from the coach," Quansah explains. "Their interest existed before he got appointed. So knowing it was a sort of internal decision and nothing would change with which manager was to come in ... it was easy for me to choose this path.

"We had a numerous squad members leaving and it's always tough when you lose key players. It has been difficult to establish new hierarchies but the results we have had recently show that we have got 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 achieving positive outcomes and avoiding defeats that is a good place to begin from."

Leaving Childhood Club

It had to have been a difficult separation for Quansah to depart from his long-time club, 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 came on as an extra-time substitute.

Quansah was also involved in the previous campaign'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 multiple matches in the competition, his four starts and nine appearances falling short compared to his statistics from the prior season when he started nine games.

Professional Growth

"I've always learned off some of the best players 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 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 an environment where they can have confidence that I could errors at times but they will see beyond that and see I can continue developing and pushing."

Foundation Building

Quansah recalls his temporary transfer to League One Bristol Rovers in the second-half of 2022-23 where he debuted at professional level – 16 of them, to be exact. There were "multiple reality checks", he notes with a grin, beginning with his first game; a 5-1 defeat at Morecambe.

"That was a genuine revelation," Quansah says. "It proved a extremely important chapter in my development because I wanted to make the subsequent progression to playing first-team football. Each match I gained fresh insights. That's where I understood how valuable experience and match practice was. You could suggest it influenced my choice in the off-season."