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"To an observer, it seems insane," the young defender says, as he reflects on his recent summer, when dizzying change felt like a constant. "But it is one of them ... football is a crazy game."

A Quick Recap

Days after winning the U21 European Championship with the English national team at the end of June, Quansah opted to depart from his childhood club, to go to the Bundesliga side in a multi-million pound transfer.

The big fee brought big pressure as the 22-year-old was charged with settling in in a new country and at a club where the turnover was substantial. The new manager had stepped in to replace Xabi Alonso and a number of key players were gone or going – including Florian Wirtz, key squad members, Jeremie Frimpong, prominent athletes, Granit Xhaka, established players and Jonathan Tah.

League Introduction

Quansah's first league appearance came on August 23rd at their home ground to Hoffenheim and the central defender found the net after five minutes, though the achievement was overshadowed by tragedy. His primary thought was his former Liverpool teammate, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah performed Jota's gamer celebration as a tribute.

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

Initial Struggles

The player could have been forgiven for wondering what he had committed to at Leverkusen. After the encouraging beginning in their first league game, they succumbed to a 2-1 defeat and the following game on August 30th was equally disappointing. Ten Hag's team threw away 2-0 and 3-1 leads to draw 3-3 at their reduced opponents, the equaliser coming in added time. It was not Ten Hag's team for very long. He was sacked on 1 September.

Staying Focused

Quansah does not come across as the type to fret. If composure characterizes his playing style, it was evident during the conversation he gave after joining the national team for the Wembley friendly against Wales and the World Cup qualifier against their next opponents.

Quansah has remained focused under the new Leverkusen manager, Kasper Hjulmand, and continued to do what he originally planned to do at the club – play. The new manager has brought stability. His squad have positive results in their domestic campaign along with ties 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 fact that demonstrates he has played every minute of the club's campaign.

National Team Attention

It is something that Thomas Tuchel has noted. The national team manager was a admirer previously, selecting Quansah when he announced his initial selection. After leaving him out in the summer so that Quansah could focus on the Under-21 European Championship, he gave him a last-minute inclusion in the autumn when the experienced defender was compelled to pull out.

Yet to earn his first cap, 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 Wales and Latvia, essentially as a additional defensive option with Stones fit again. The aspiration is a first appearance. It is one more milestone he would surely handle with ease.

Decision Making

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

"We had a lot of players departing and it's always tough when you see important figures leave. It has been tough to establish new hierarchies but the results we have had recently show that we have got a good squad with talented individuals. It is going to take time to build and we are still progressing. But if we are achieving positive outcomes and not losing that is a good place to begin from."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a difficult separation for Quansah to leave Liverpool, his team since childhood, where he enjoyed so many memorable moments – such as the league cup triumph over Chelsea in the previous season when he was introduced as an extra-time substitute.

Quansah was also involved in last season's domestic championship success. Yet his perspective of much of that was not the one he would have preferred. He was an unused substitute on 25 occasions in the competition, his four starts and nine appearances comparing unfavourably with his numbers from 2023‑24 when he featured more regularly.

Professional Growth

"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 at my desired level.

"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 somewhere where they can trust that I might make mistakes at certain moments but they will look under that and recognize I can keep pushing and improving."

Foundation Building

Quansah recalls his loan to League One Bristol Rovers in the second-half of 2022-23 where he made his first senior appearances – 16 of them, to be precise. There were "numerous wake-up calls", he says with a smile, starting with his first game; a 5-1 defeat at Morecambe.

"That represented a genuine revelation," Quansah reflects. "It was a extremely important chapter in my development because I wanted to make the subsequent progression to playing first-team football. Every game I learned something new. That's when I understood how valuable practical knowledge and playing games was. You could suggest it informed my choice in the summer."