Bayer Leverkusen's Quansah Keeps Calm and Continues Onward in His Steady Rise to Stardom

"To an observer, it appears insane," Jarell Quansah remarks, as he looks back on his summer just gone, when dizzying change felt like a constant. "However, that's just how it goes ... football is a unpredictable game."

A Brief Summary

Shortly after winning the European Under-21 Championship with England at the end of June, Quansah decided to leave Liverpool, to go to Bayer Leverkusen in a multi-million pound transfer.

The significant transfer sum brought big pressure as the young defender was charged with finding his feet in a foreign land and at a team where the turnover was substantial. Erik ten Hag had taken over to succeed Xabi Alonso and a number of star performers were departing or already left – chief among them 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 their home ground to their opponents and the centre-half scored after the opening minutes, albeit the goal was overshadowed by sadness. His primary thought was his former Liverpool teammate, who was tragically lost in a road incident. Quansah performed Jota's gamer celebration as a mark of respect.

"To have a goal on your first Bundesliga match, in front of home fans, after the opening moments, is definitely a whirlwind," Quansah says. "However, my dominant emotion was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Initial Struggles

The player could have been excused for questioning what he had signed up for at the German club. From the promising start in their first league game, they succumbed to a narrow loss and the next match on 30 August was just as bad. Ten Hag's team threw away comfortable advantages to finish level 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.

Staying Focused

Quansah doesn't appear to be the type to fret. If calmness characterizes his playing style, it was evident during the interview he gave after joining the national team for the Wembley friendly against Wales and the World Cup qualifier against Latvia.

Quansah has remained focused under the current coach, Kasper Hjulmand, and persisted in doing what he originally planned to do at the club – play. The new manager has brought stability. His squad have three wins and one draw in four league matches along with ties in each of their European matches. But there is a more significant number that motivates the player, even bringing a sense of justification. It is the one which shows he has been ever-present of the club's campaign.

International Recognition

It is something that the England head coach has observed. The England head coach was a fan last season, selecting Quansah when he named his first squad. After omitting him in June so that Quansah could focus on the youth tournament, he gave him a last-minute inclusion in the autumn when the experienced defender was compelled to pull out.

Still to win his first cap, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in training and within the squad environment because he was named at the beginning in Tuchel's squad selection for Wales and Latvia, effectively as a fifth centre-back with the regular starter returning. The aspiration is a debut. It is one more milestone he would surely 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 says. "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 come in ... it was straightforward for me to make that decision.

"There were a lot of players departing and it's consistently challenging when you lose key players. It has been difficult to establish new hierarchies but the outcomes we have had recently show that we have got a competitive team with quality players. It is going to take time to build and we are not where we want to be. But if we are getting results and not losing that is a solid foundation to start."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a wrench for Quansah to leave his long-time club, his club from the age of five, where he experienced so many memorable moments – such as the league cup triumph over their London rivals in 2023‑24 when he was introduced as an extra-time substitute.

Quansah was also involved in last season's domestic championship success. Yet his view of much of that was not the one he would have preferred. He was an non-playing reserve on multiple matches in the competition, his limited playing time falling short compared to his numbers from 2023‑24 when he featured more regularly.

Career Development

"I consistently developed off some of the best players around me at Liverpool and it's been so good for my professional development," he comments. "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 regular playing opportunities and when you are at a top-level club, it's not promised because there are elite performers throughout the squad. I wanted somewhere where they can have confidence that I could errors at times but they will see beyond that and recognize I can continue developing and improving."

Early Experience

Quansah remembers his loan to the lower division club in the later part of that season where he made his first senior appearances – 16 of them, to be exact. There were "numerous wake-up calls", he notes with a grin, beginning with his debut; a heavy loss at their opponents.

"That represented a genuine revelation," Quansah says. "It was a extremely important chapter in my development because I aimed to take the subsequent progression to playing first-team football. Each match I learned something new. That's where I understood how crucial experience and playing games was. You could suggest it influenced my choice in the off-season."