🔗 Share this article

"From the outside, it appears insane," Jarell Quansah 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

Shortly after winning the U21 European Championship with England at the end of June, Quansah opted to depart from Liverpool, to join Bayer Leverkusen in a £30m deal.

The big fee equalled high expectations as the 22-year-old was charged with finding his feet in a new country and at a team where the churn was substantial. The new manager had stepped in to succeed the previous coach and a host of key players were departing or already left – chief among them Florian Wirtz, key squad members, influential figures, Amine Adli, Granit Xhaka, established players and team leaders.

League Introduction

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on August 23rd at their home ground to their opponents and the centre-half scored after five minutes, albeit the achievement was undercut by tragedy. His primary thought was his former Liverpool teammate, who was tragically lost in a road incident. Quansah executed Jota's gamer celebration as a tribute.

"To have a goal on your first Bundesliga match, at home, after the opening moments, is certainly a whirlwind," Quansah states. "However, my dominant emotion was that it was a homage to Diogo."

Early Challenges

The player could have been forgiven for wondering what he had committed to at the German club. From the promising start in their opening league fixture, they fell to a 2-1 defeat and the following game on August 30th was equally disappointing. Ten Hag's team squandered 2-0 and 3-1 leads to draw 3-3 at their reduced opponents, 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 kind to worry. If composure characterizes his playing style, it was on show during the conversation he gave after joining the national team for the international friendly against their rivals 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 originally planned to do at the team – play. The new manager has established consistency. His squad have positive results in four league matches along with draws in each of their Champions League ties. But there is a more significant number that motivates the player, even bringing a measure of vindication. It is the one which shows 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, including him when he announced his initial selection. 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 the autumn when the experienced defender was compelled to pull out.

Yet to earn his first cap, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in practice sessions and around the camp because he was named at the outset in the manager's 24‑man group for Wales and Latvia, essentially as a fifth centre-back with the regular starter returning. The dream is a first appearance. It is one more milestone he would certainly take in his stride.

Decision Making

"With my new club, the team were keen on signing me for a considerable time and that's not only from the coach," Quansah explains. "Their interest existed prior to his arrival. So knowing it was a type of organizational choice and things would remain consistent with which manager was to take over ... it was easy for me to choose this path.

"There were a lot of players leaving and it's consistently challenging when you see important figures leave. It has been difficult to establish new hierarchies but the results we have had [under Hjulmand] show that we have developed a competitive team with quality players. It is going to take time to develop and we are still progressing. But if we are getting results and not losing that is a solid foundation to begin from."

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 enjoyed 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 a part of last season's Premier League title triumph. Yet his view of most of that achievement was not the one he would have preferred. He was an non-playing reserve on 25 occasions in the league, his four starts and nine appearances falling short compared to his numbers from the prior season 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. "But as a young centre-back, 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 team like Liverpool, it's not guaranteed because there are elite performers throughout the squad. I wanted an environment where they can have confidence that I might make mistakes at certain moments but they will see beyond that and see I can keep pushing and pushing."

Foundation Building

Quansah recalls his loan 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 "numerous wake-up calls", he says with a smile, beginning with his debut; a heavy loss at Morecambe.

"That represented a true eye-opener," Quansah says. "It proved a really valuable part of my career because I wanted to make the next step to playing first-team football. Every game I learned something new. That's where I understood how crucial practical knowledge and match practice was. You could say it informed my choice in the off-season."