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"To an observer, it appears crazy," the young defender 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 Quick Recap

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 significant transfer sum equalled big pressure as the 22-year-old was tasked with finding his feet in a foreign land and at a club where the churn was dramatic. Erik ten Hag had stepped in to succeed the previous coach and a number of key players were gone or going – including Florian Wirtz, key squad members, Jeremie Frimpong, prominent athletes, experienced professionals, established players and Jonathan Tah.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's first league appearance came on 23 August at their home ground to their opponents and the centre-half found the net after five minutes, albeit the goal was overshadowed by tragedy. His primary thought was his former Liverpool teammate, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah executed his teammate's signature celebration as a tribute.

"Scoring on your Bundesliga debut, in front of home fans, after the opening moments, is definitely a rollercoaster," Quansah states. "However, my dominant emotion was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Early Challenges

The defender could have been forgiven for wondering what he had committed to at the German club. After the encouraging beginning in their opening league fixture, they succumbed to a narrow loss and the following game on 30 August was equally disappointing. The squad threw away comfortable advantages to finish level at their reduced opponents, the equaliser coming in added time. It was no longer his responsibility for much longer. His dismissal came on September 1st.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah does not come across as the type to fret. If composure characterizes his playing style, it was on show during the interview he participated in after joining England for the Wembley friendly against their rivals and the World Cup qualifier against Latvia.

Quansah has remained focused under the current coach, Kasper Hjulmand, and persisted in doing what he always intended to do at the team – compete. The new manager has brought stability. His team 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 encourages Quansah, even bringing a measure of vindication. It is the fact that demonstrates he has been ever-present of the club's campaign.

International Recognition

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

Still to win his international debut, Quansah must have done something right in training and within the squad environment because he was selected at the outset in Tuchel's 24‑man group for Wales and Latvia, essentially as a additional defensive option with Stones fit again. The aspiration is a first appearance. It is another thing he would surely take in his stride.

Decision Making

"At Leverkusen, 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 organizational choice and things would remain consistent with whatever coach was to come in ... it was straightforward for me to choose this path.

"We had a lot of players leaving and it's always tough when you lose key players. It has been tough to establish new hierarchies but the outcomes we have had recently demonstrate that we have got a good squad with talented individuals. It is requiring patience to build and we are not where we want to be. But if we are achieving positive outcomes and not losing that is a solid foundation to start."

Leaving Childhood Club

It had to have been a wrench for Quansah to depart from Liverpool, his club from the age of five, where he experienced so many significant occasions – such as the league cup triumph over their London rivals in 2023‑24 when he was introduced as an late replacement.

Quansah was also involved in the previous campaign's Premier League title triumph. Yet his view of most of that achievement was not the perspective he would have preferred. He was an unused substitute on 25 occasions in the competition, his limited playing time falling short compared to his statistics from 2023‑24 when he started nine games.

Career Development

"I've always learned off top-level professionals around me at Liverpool and it's been so good for my professional development," he says. "But as a young centre-back, you need games and I'm going to be needing extensive playing time 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 promised 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 certain moments but they will see beyond that and see I can continue developing and improving."

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 precise. There were "multiple reality checks", he notes with a smile, starting with his debut; a 5-1 defeat at Morecambe.

"That represented a genuine revelation," Quansah reflects. "It was a extremely important chapter in my development because I aimed to take the next step to playing first-team football. Each match I gained fresh insights. That's when I understood how valuable experience and playing games was. You could suggest it influenced my decision in the off-season."