🔗 Share this article Leverkusen's Quansah Keeps Calm and Carries On in His Steady Rise to Football Fame "To an observer, it seems insane," Jarell Quansah says, 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 Quick Recap Days after claiming victory in the U21 European Championship with England at the end of June, Quansah decided to leave his childhood club, to go to the Bundesliga side in a £30m deal. The significant transfer sum equalled big pressure as the 22-year-old was charged with finding his feet in a foreign land and at a team where the churn was dramatic. The new manager had taken over to replace the previous coach and a host of key players were gone or going – including several high-profile names, key squad members, influential figures, Amine Adli, experienced professionals, established players and Jonathan Tah. Bundesliga Debut Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on 23 August at their home ground to Hoffenheim and the central defender scored after five minutes, albeit the achievement was undercut by tragedy. All he could think about was Diogo Jota, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah executed 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 rollercoaster," Quansah says. "But my overwhelming feeling was that it was a tribute to Diogo." Early Challenges The defender could have been excused for questioning what he had committed to at Leverkusen. After the encouraging beginning in their first league game, they fell to a narrow loss and the next match on 30 August was just as bad. Ten Hag's team threw away 2-0 and 3-1 leads to finish level at their reduced opponents, the tying goal coming in stoppage time. It was no longer his responsibility for very long. His dismissal came on September 1st. Maintaining Composure Quansah doesn't appear to be the type to fret. If composure defines his game, it was on show during the conversation he participated in after joining the national team for the Wembley friendly against Wales and the World Cup qualifier 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 club – play. Hjulmand has brought stability. His team have three wins and one draw in four league matches along with draws 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 fact that demonstrates he has been ever-present of the team's season. National Team Attention It is something that Thomas Tuchel has noted. The national team manager was a admirer last season, selecting Quansah when he named his first squad. After leaving him out in June so that Quansah could focus on the Under-21 European Championship, he provided him with a late call-up in September when John Stones was forced to withdraw. Still to win his first cap, Quansah must have done something right in training and around the camp because he was named at the outset in Tuchel's squad selection for the upcoming matches, effectively as a additional defensive option with Stones fit again. The aspiration is a first appearance. It is another thing he would certainly take in his stride. Career Choices "With my new club, the club were keen on signing me for a considerable time and that's not just from the manager [Ten Hag]," Quansah explains. "They were interested before he got appointed. So understanding it was a type of organizational choice and things would remain consistent with whatever coach was to take over ... it was straightforward for me to choose this path. "There were a lot of players leaving and it's always tough when you lose key players. It has been difficult to establish new hierarchies but the outcomes we have had [under Hjulmand] demonstrate that we have got a competitive team with quality players. It is going to take time to build and we are not where we want to be. But if we are getting results and avoiding defeats that is a solid foundation to start." Leaving Childhood Club It had to have been a wrench for Quansah to depart from Liverpool, his team since childhood, where he enjoyed so many memorable moments – such as the league cup triumph over their London rivals in 2023‑24 when he came on as an extra-time substitute. 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 falling short compared to his statistics from the prior season when he featured more regularly. Professional Growth "I consistently developed off some of the best players around me at Liverpool and it's been so good for my career," he says. "But as a young centre-back, you require match experience and I'm will require extensive playing time to be where I want to be. "I just wanted game time and when you are at a team like Liverpool, it's not guaranteed because there are elite performers all over the pitch. I wanted somewhere where they can have confidence that I might make mistakes 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 second-half of 2022-23 where he debuted at professional level – multiple matches, to be precise. There were "multiple reality checks", he notes with a smile, beginning with his first game; a 5-1 defeat at their opponents. "That represented a true eye-opener," Quansah reflects. "It proved a really valuable part of my career because I wanted to make the subsequent progression to playing first-team football. Every game I learned something new. That's when I understood how valuable practical knowledge and match practice was. You could say it influenced my decision in the off-season."