🔗 Share this article

"From the outside, it appears crazy," the young defender 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

Shortly after winning 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 significant transfer sum brought big pressure as the 22-year-old was charged with finding his feet in a new country and at a club where the churn was dramatic. The new manager had stepped in to succeed the previous coach and a host of star performers were gone or going – chief among them several high-profile names, key squad members, influential figures, prominent athletes, Granit Xhaka, Lukas Hradecky and Jonathan Tah.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on August 23rd at home to their opponents and the centre-half scored after five minutes, though the achievement was undercut by tragedy. All he could think about was Diogo Jota, who was tragically lost in a road incident. Quansah performed Jota's gamer celebration as a mark of respect.

"Scoring on your first Bundesliga match, in front of home fans, after the opening moments, is definitely a whirlwind," Quansah says. "But my overwhelming feeling was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Initial Struggles

The player could have been forgiven for wondering what he had signed up for at the German club. 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. The squad threw away 2-0 and 3-1 leads to draw 3-3 at 10-man Werder Bremen, the tying goal coming in added time. It was not Ten Hag's team for much longer. He was sacked 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 interview he gave after being selected for the national team for the international friendly against Wales and the qualifying match against their next opponents.

Quansah has remained focused under the new Leverkusen manager, the Danish tactician, and continued to do what he originally planned to do at the club – compete. The new manager has established consistency. His team have three wins and one draw in four league matches along with ties in each of their Champions League ties. But there is a broader statistic that motivates the player, even bringing a measure of vindication. It is the fact that demonstrates he has played every minute of the team's season.

National Team Attention

It is one that the England head coach has noted. The England head coach was a admirer last season, selecting Quansah when he announced his initial selection. After leaving him out in the summer so that Quansah could concentrate on the Under-21 European Championship, he provided him with a late call-up in September when the experienced defender was forced to withdraw.

Still to win his first cap, Quansah must have done something right in practice sessions and around the camp because he was selected at the outset in Tuchel's squad selection for the upcoming matches, essentially as a additional defensive option with the regular starter returning. The aspiration is a first appearance. It is one more milestone he would certainly handle with ease.

Decision Making

"At Leverkusen, the team were interested in me for a considerable time and that's not just from the coach," Quansah explains. "They were interested before he got appointed. So understanding it was a type of organizational choice and nothing would change with which manager was to take over ... it was straightforward for me to make that decision.

"There were a lot of players leaving and it's consistently challenging when you lose key players. It has been tough to build the leadership groups but the outcomes we have had [under Hjulmand] show that we have got a good squad with talented individuals. It is requiring patience to build and we are still progressing. But if we are getting results and avoiding defeats that is a good place to start."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a wrench for Quansah to depart from Liverpool, his team since childhood, where he experienced so many significant occasions – such as the Carabao Cup final victory over their London rivals in the previous season when he was introduced as an late replacement.

Quansah was also involved in last season's Premier League title triumph. 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 limited playing time falling short compared to his statistics from the prior season 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 says. "However, for a developing defender, you require match experience and I'm will require extensive playing time to be at my desired level.

"My primary desire was game time and when you are at a top-level club, it's not guaranteed because there are world-class players all over the pitch. I wanted an environment where they can have confidence that I might make mistakes at times but they will look under that and recognize I can keep pushing and pushing."

Foundation Building

Quansah remembers his temporary transfer to League One Bristol Rovers in the later part of that season where he made his first senior appearances – multiple matches, to be precise. There were "multiple reality checks", he notes with a grin, beginning with his first game; a heavy loss at their opponents.

"That represented a genuine revelation," Quansah reflects. "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 when I understood how crucial experience and match practice was. You could suggest it influenced my choice in the summer."