🔗 Share this article

"From the outside, it seems crazy," Jarell Quansah remarks, as he reflects on his summer just gone, 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 equalled big pressure as the young defender was charged with settling in in a foreign land and at a club where the churn was dramatic. Erik ten Hag had taken over to replace the previous coach and a host of key players were departing or already left – chief among them Florian Wirtz, Piero Hincapié, Jeremie Frimpong, prominent athletes, Granit Xhaka, established players and Jonathan Tah.

League Introduction

Quansah's first league appearance came on 23 August at home to Hoffenheim and the central defender found the net 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 performed his teammate's signature celebration as a mark of respect.

"To have a goal on your first Bundesliga match, at home, after the opening moments, is certainly a whirlwind," Quansah states. "But my overwhelming feeling was that it was a homage 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 opening league fixture, they fell to a narrow loss and the next match on August 30th was equally disappointing. Ten Hag's team squandered comfortable advantages to draw 3-3 at 10-man Werder Bremen, the equaliser coming in stoppage time. It was not Ten Hag's team for much longer. His dismissal came on September 1st.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah doesn't appear to be the kind to worry. If calmness characterizes his playing style, it was evident during the interview he gave after being selected for England for the international friendly against their rivals and the World Cup qualifier against Latvia.

Quansah has kept his head down under the new Leverkusen manager, Kasper Hjulmand, and persisted in doing what he always intended to do at the team – play. Hjulmand has brought stability. His team have positive results in their domestic campaign along with ties in each of their European matches. But there is a more significant number 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.

International Recognition

It is something that the England head coach has observed. The national team manager was a admirer previously, selecting Quansah when he announced his initial selection. After leaving him out in the summer 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.

Yet to earn his international debut, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in practice sessions and around the camp because he was named at the outset in the manager's 24‑man group for Wales and Latvia, essentially as a additional defensive option with the regular starter returning. The aspiration is a debut. It is one more milestone he would surely handle with ease.

Career Choices

"With my new club, the team were interested in me for a while and that's not just from the coach," Quansah explains. "Their interest existed before he got appointed. So knowing it was a sort of organizational choice and things would remain consistent with which manager was to take over ... it was easy for me to choose this path.

"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 recently demonstrate that we have developed a good squad with talented individuals. It is requiring patience to develop and we are not where we want to be. But if we are achieving positive outcomes and avoiding defeats that is a solid foundation to begin from."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a difficult separation for Quansah to leave 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 came on as an late replacement.

Quansah was also a part of the previous campaign's domestic championship success. Yet his perspective of most of that achievement was not the perspective 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 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 professional development," he says. "But as a young centre-back, 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 regular playing opportunities and when you are at a team like Liverpool, it's not promised because there are world-class players throughout the squad. 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 improving."

Early Experience

Quansah recalls his loan to League One Bristol Rovers in the later part of that season where he made his first senior appearances – multiple matches, to be exact. There were "numerous wake-up calls", he notes with a grin, beginning with his first game; a 5-1 defeat at Morecambe.

"That represented a genuine revelation," Quansah reflects. "It proved a extremely important part of my career because I aimed to take the next step to playing first-team football. Every game I learned something new. That's where I understood how crucial experience and playing games was. You could say it informed my choice in the off-season."