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"To an observer, it appears insane," the young defender remarks, as he reflects on his recent summer, when dizzying change felt like a constant. "But it is one of them ... football is a crazy game."

A Brief Summary

Shortly after claiming victory in the U21 European Championship with England at the conclusion of June, Quansah opted to depart from his childhood club, to go to the Bundesliga side in a £30m deal.

The big fee equalled high expectations as the 22-year-old was tasked with settling in in a foreign land and at a club where the churn was substantial. Erik ten Hag had taken over to succeed the previous coach and a number of key players were departing or already left – including Florian Wirtz, key squad members, influential figures, prominent athletes, experienced professionals, Lukas Hradecky and team leaders.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's first league appearance came on August 23rd at home to their opponents and the central defender found the net after five minutes, albeit the achievement was undercut by tragedy. All he could think about was his former Liverpool teammate, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah executed Jota's gamer celebration as a mark of respect.

"Scoring on your first Bundesliga match, at home, after five minutes, is definitely a whirlwind," Quansah states. "However, my dominant emotion was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Early Challenges

The player could have been forgiven for wondering what he had committed to at Leverkusen. From the promising start in their first league game, they fell to a 2-1 defeat and the following game on August 30th was just as bad. Ten Hag's team squandered comfortable advantages to draw 3-3 at their reduced opponents, the tying goal coming in added time. It was no longer his responsibility for much longer. He was sacked on September 1st.

Staying Focused

Quansah does not come across as the type to fret. If composure defines his game, it was evident during the conversation he gave after being selected for the national team for the Wembley friendly against their rivals and the World Cup qualifier 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 team – play. Hjulmand has established consistency. His team have positive results in their domestic campaign along with ties in each of their Champions League ties. But there is a more significant number that encourages Quansah, even bringing a sense of justification. It is the one which shows he has been ever-present of the club's campaign.

National Team Attention

It is one that the England head coach has observed. The England head coach was a admirer last season, selecting Quansah when he named his first squad. After leaving him out in the summer so that Quansah could concentrate on the Under-21 European Championship, he gave him a late call-up in the autumn when the experienced defender was compelled to pull out.

Still to win his first cap, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in practice sessions and around the camp because he was named at the beginning in the manager's 24‑man group for the upcoming matches, essentially as a fifth centre-back with the regular starter returning. The dream is a debut. It is one more milestone he would surely handle with ease.

Decision Making

"At Leverkusen, the club were interested in me for a considerable time and that's not only from the coach," Quansah says. "Their interest existed before he got appointed. So knowing it was a type of internal decision and things would remain consistent with whatever coach was to come in ... it was straightforward for me to make that decision.

"There were a numerous squad members leaving and it's consistently challenging when you see important figures leave. It has been difficult to build the leadership groups but the results we have had recently demonstrate that we have got a competitive team with talented individuals. It is going to take time to build 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 team since childhood, where he experienced so many memorable moments – such as the league cup triumph over their London rivals in the previous season when he came on as an extra-time substitute.

Quansah was also involved in the previous campaign's Premier League title triumph. Yet his view of most of that achievement was not the one he would have chosen. He was an non-playing reserve on multiple matches in the league, his limited playing time comparing unfavourably with his statistics from 2023‑24 when he started nine games.

Career Development

"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 need games and I'm going to be needing extensive playing time to be at my desired level.

"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 all over the pitch. I wanted somewhere where they can have confidence that I could errors at certain moments but they will look under that and see 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 debuted at professional level – multiple matches, to be exact. There were "multiple reality checks", he notes with a smile, beginning with his debut; a 5-1 defeat at Morecambe.

"That represented a true eye-opener," Quansah says. "It proved a really valuable 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 valuable experience and playing games was. You could say it informed my choice in the summer."