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"From the outside, it appears crazy," Jarell Quansah says, as he looks back on his recent summer, when rapid transformation felt like a constant. "However, that's just how it goes ... football is a unpredictable game."

A Brief Summary

Shortly after winning the European Under-21 Championship with the English national team at the conclusion of June, Quansah decided to leave his childhood club, to join Bayer Leverkusen in a multi-million pound transfer.

The big fee brought high expectations as the 22-year-old was charged with finding his feet in a new country and at a club where the churn was substantial. The new manager had taken over to succeed the previous coach and a host of star performers were departing or already left – including several high-profile names, key squad members, Jeremie Frimpong, prominent athletes, experienced professionals, Lukas Hradecky and Jonathan Tah.

League Introduction

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on August 23rd at home to Hoffenheim and the central defender found the net after five minutes, though the achievement was overshadowed by tragedy. All he could think about was Diogo Jota, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah performed Jota's gamer celebration as a mark of respect.

"To have a goal on your Bundesliga debut, in front of home fans, after five minutes, is definitely a whirlwind," 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 signed up for at the German club. From the promising start in their first league game, they succumbed to a 2-1 defeat and the next match on 30 August was equally disappointing. The squad squandered comfortable advantages to finish level at 10-man Werder Bremen, the equaliser coming in stoppage time. It was no longer his responsibility for much longer. His dismissal came on September 1st.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah doesn't appear to be the type to fret. If calmness defines his game, it was evident during the conversation he gave after being selected for England for the international friendly against Wales and the qualifying match against their next opponents.

Quansah has kept his head down under the current coach, Kasper Hjulmand, and continued to do what he originally planned to do at the team – compete. Hjulmand has established consistency. 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 broader statistic that motivates the player, even bringing a sense of justification. It is the one which shows he has played every minute of the club's campaign.

International Recognition

It is one that the England head coach has observed. The England head coach was a admirer last season, including him when he named his first squad. After leaving him out in the summer so that Quansah could focus on the youth tournament, he provided him with a late call-up in September when the experienced defender was compelled to pull out.

Still to win his international debut, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in training and within the squad environment because he was selected at the beginning in Tuchel's 24‑man group for Wales and Latvia, essentially as a additional defensive option with the regular starter returning. The dream is a debut. It is another thing he would certainly take in his stride.

Decision Making

"With my new club, the club were interested in me for a while and that's not just from the manager [Ten Hag]," Quansah explains. "Their interest existed before he got appointed. So understanding it was a type of internal decision and nothing would change with whatever coach was to come in ... it was straightforward for me to make that decision.

"We had a numerous squad members departing and it's always tough when you lose key players. It has been difficult to build the leadership groups but the results we have had recently demonstrate that we have developed a competitive team with talented individuals. It is going to take time to develop and we are still progressing. But if we are achieving positive outcomes and not losing that is a good place to begin from."

Leaving Childhood Club

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 experienced so many significant occasions – such as the Carabao Cup final victory over Chelsea in 2023‑24 when he came on as an late replacement.

Quansah was also involved in the previous campaign's domestic championship success. Yet his view of much of that was not the perspective he would have preferred. He was an non-playing reserve on multiple matches in the competition, his limited playing time falling short compared to his statistics from 2023‑24 when he featured more regularly.

Career Development

"I consistently developed off some of the best players around me at my former club and it's been incredibly beneficial for my professional development," he comments. "However, for a developing defender, you need games and I'm will require hundreds of games to be at my desired level.

"I just wanted game time and when you are at a top-level club, it's not promised because there are elite performers all over the pitch. I wanted somewhere where they can have confidence that I could errors at times but they will see beyond that and recognize I can keep pushing and pushing."

Foundation Building

Quansah remembers his temporary transfer to the lower division club 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 says with a smile, beginning with his first game; a heavy loss at their opponents.

"That was a true eye-opener," Quansah reflects. "It proved a extremely important part of my career because I aimed to take the next step to regular senior competition. Each match I gained fresh insights. That's when I knew how crucial practical knowledge and match practice was. You could say it influenced my decision in the off-season."