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"To an observer, it appears insane," the young defender remarks, 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 unpredictable game."

A Quick Recap

Days after claiming victory in the European Under-21 Championship with England at the end of June, Quansah opted to depart from his childhood club, to join Bayer Leverkusen in a £30m deal.

The significant transfer sum brought big pressure as the 22-year-old was charged with settling in in a foreign land and at a club where the churn was dramatic. The new manager had taken over to replace the previous coach and a host of key players were departing or already left – chief among them several high-profile names, key squad members, Jeremie Frimpong, prominent athletes, experienced professionals, established players and team leaders.

League Introduction

Quansah's first league appearance came on August 23rd at home to Hoffenheim and the centre-half scored after the opening minutes, though the achievement was overshadowed by tragedy. His primary thought was Diogo Jota, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah performed 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. "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 committed to at Leverkusen. 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 threw away comfortable advantages to finish level at 10-man Werder Bremen, the equaliser coming in added time. It was not Ten Hag's team for much longer. He was sacked on 1 September.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah does not come across as the kind to worry. If calmness defines his game, it was on show during the interview he participated in after joining England for the international friendly against Wales and the qualifying match against their next opponents.

Quansah has remained focused under the current coach, the Danish tactician, and continued to do what he always intended to do at the club – compete. Hjulmand has brought stability. His squad have three wins and one draw in four league matches along with draws in each of their European matches. But there is a broader statistic that motivates the player, even bringing a sense of justification. It is the one which shows he has been ever-present of the team's season.

International Recognition

It is one that Thomas Tuchel has noted. The England head coach was a admirer previously, including him when he named his first squad. After omitting him in June so that Quansah could concentrate on the Under-21 European Championship, he gave him a last-minute inclusion in September when John Stones was compelled to pull out.

Still to win his international debut, Quansah must have done something right in practice sessions and within the squad environment because he was named at the outset in the manager's 24‑man group for the upcoming matches, effectively as a fifth centre-back with the regular starter returning. The dream is a debut. It is another thing he would certainly take in his stride.

Career Choices

"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 prior to his arrival. So knowing it was a sort of internal decision and nothing would change with which manager was to take over ... it was straightforward for me to choose this path.

"We had 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] demonstrate that we have got a competitive team with talented individuals. It is going to take time to develop and we are not where we want to be. But if we are achieving positive outcomes and avoiding defeats that is a good place to start."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a difficult separation for Quansah to depart from his long-time club, his team since childhood, where he experienced so many significant occasions – 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 last season'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 multiple matches in the competition, his four starts and nine appearances falling short compared to his numbers from 2023‑24 when he started nine games.

Career Development

"I consistently developed off some of the best players around me at Liverpool and it's been incredibly beneficial for my professional development," he comments. "However, for a developing defender, 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 game time and when you are at a team like Liverpool, it's not guaranteed because there are elite performers throughout the squad. I wanted somewhere where they can trust that I could errors at certain moments but they will look under that and see I can continue developing and improving."

Foundation Building

Quansah recalls his loan to League One Bristol Rovers in the second-half of 2022-23 where he debuted at professional level – 16 of them, to be exact. 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 really valuable chapter in my development because I aimed to take the subsequent progression to regular senior competition. Every game I gained fresh insights. That's where I understood how crucial experience and match practice was. You could say it influenced my decision in the summer."