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"From the outside, it appears crazy," Jarell Quansah remarks, as he looks back on his recent summer, when dizzying change felt like a constant. "But it is one of them ... football is a unpredictable game."

A Brief Summary

Shortly after winning the U21 European Championship with England at the end of June, Quansah decided to leave his childhood club, to go to Bayer Leverkusen in a £30m deal.

The significant transfer sum equalled high expectations as the young defender was tasked with settling in in a foreign land and at a club where the churn was dramatic. Erik ten Hag had taken over to replace Xabi Alonso and a host of star performers were departing or already left – including Florian Wirtz, key squad members, Jeremie Frimpong, prominent athletes, experienced professionals, Lukas Hradecky and Jonathan Tah.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on 23 August at home to their opponents and the centre-half found the net after the opening minutes, though the goal was overshadowed by tragedy. His primary thought was his former Liverpool teammate, who was tragically lost in a road incident. Quansah executed his teammate's signature celebration as a tribute.

"To have a goal on your first Bundesliga match, in front of home fans, after five minutes, is certainly a rollercoaster," Quansah states. "However, my dominant emotion was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Early Challenges

The defender could have been excused for questioning what he had signed up for at Leverkusen. After the encouraging beginning in their opening league fixture, they fell to a narrow loss and the next match on August 30th was just as bad. Ten Hag's team squandered 2-0 and 3-1 leads to draw 3-3 at 10-man Werder Bremen, the equaliser coming in stoppage time. It was not Ten Hag's team for much longer. He was sacked on 1 September.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah doesn't appear to be the kind to worry. If composure defines his game, it was evident during the interview he gave after being selected for England for the Wembley friendly against Wales and the qualifying match against Latvia.

Quansah has kept his head down under the new Leverkusen manager, Kasper Hjulmand, and persisted in doing what he always intended to do at the club – play. The new manager has established consistency. His team have three wins and one draw in their domestic campaign along with ties in each of their European matches. But there is a more significant number that encourages Quansah, 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 the England head coach has observed. The national team manager was a admirer previously, selecting Quansah when he announced his initial selection. After omitting him in June so that Quansah could focus 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 first cap, Quansah must have done something right in practice sessions and within the squad environment because he was selected at the outset in Tuchel's 24‑man group for the upcoming matches, effectively as a fifth centre-back with the regular starter returning. The dream is a first appearance. It is another thing he would surely handle with ease.

Career Choices

"With my new club, the club were interested in me for a while and that's not just from the coach," Quansah says. "They were interested prior to his arrival. So understanding 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.

"There were a numerous squad members departing 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 developed a good squad with quality players. It is going to take time to build and we are still progressing. But if we are getting results and avoiding defeats that is a solid foundation to begin from."

Leaving Childhood Club

It had to have been a wrench for Quansah to depart from his long-time club, his team since childhood, where he enjoyed so many memorable moments – such as the Carabao Cup final victory 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 domestic championship success. Yet his perspective of most of that achievement was not the perspective he would have chosen. He was an unused substitute on 25 occasions in the competition, his four starts and nine appearances falling short compared to his numbers from the prior season when he featured more regularly.

Professional Growth

"I consistently developed off some of the best players around me at my former club and it's been so good for my professional development," he comments. "However, for a developing defender, you require match experience and I'm going to be needing extensive playing time to be at my desired level.

"I just wanted regular playing opportunities 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 somewhere where they can trust that I might make mistakes at times but they will see beyond that and see I can keep pushing and improving."

Early Experience

Quansah recalls his loan to League One Bristol Rovers in the later part of that season where he debuted at professional level – 16 of them, to be exact. There were "numerous wake-up calls", he notes with a grin, beginning with his debut; a 5-1 defeat at their opponents.

"That was a true eye-opener," Quansah reflects. "It was a extremely important part of my career because I wanted to make the next step to playing first-team football. Each match I learned something new. That's where I understood how valuable practical knowledge and playing games was. You could say it influenced my choice in the summer."