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

A Quick Recap

Shortly after claiming victory in the European Under-21 Championship with the English national team at the conclusion of June, Quansah opted to depart from his childhood club, to go to the Bundesliga side in a multi-million pound transfer.

The significant transfer sum equalled big pressure as the young defender was tasked with settling in in a foreign land and at a club where the churn was dramatic. The new manager had taken over to replace the previous coach and a number of key players were gone or going – including Florian Wirtz, key squad members, Jeremie Frimpong, prominent athletes, Granit Xhaka, Lukas Hradecky and team leaders.

League Introduction

Quansah's first league appearance came on August 23rd at their home ground to Hoffenheim and the centre-half scored after the opening minutes, albeit the goal was undercut by sadness. 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.

"Scoring on your first Bundesliga match, at home, after the opening moments, is definitely a whirlwind," Quansah says. "However, my dominant emotion was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Early Challenges

The player could have been forgiven for wondering what he had committed to at Leverkusen. From the promising start in their opening league fixture, they fell to a narrow loss and the following game on 30 August was just as bad. The squad squandered comfortable advantages to finish level at their reduced opponents, the equaliser coming in stoppage time. It was not Ten Hag's team for very long. He was sacked on 1 September.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah doesn't appear to be the type to fret. If calmness characterizes his playing style, it was on show during the conversation he participated in after being selected for the national team for the Wembley friendly against Wales and the qualifying match against Latvia.

Quansah has kept his head down under the new Leverkusen manager, the Danish tactician, and persisted in doing what he originally planned to do at the club – play. The new manager has brought stability. His team have positive results in their domestic campaign along with draws 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 been ever-present of the club's campaign.

International Recognition

It is something that Thomas Tuchel has observed. The national team manager was a fan previously, including him when he announced his initial selection. After omitting him in the summer so that Quansah could concentrate on the Under-21 European Championship, he provided him with a late call-up in the autumn when John Stones was forced to withdraw.

Yet to earn his first cap, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in training and within the squad environment because he was named at the outset in Tuchel's squad selection for the upcoming matches, effectively as a fifth centre-back with Stones fit again. The aspiration is a debut. It is one more milestone he would certainly handle with ease.

Career Choices

"At Leverkusen, the club were keen on signing me for a considerable time and that's not only from the coach," Quansah explains. "Their interest existed before he got appointed. So knowing it was a sort of organizational choice and things would remain consistent with whatever coach was to take over ... it was easy for me to make that decision.

"We had a numerous squad members departing and it's consistently challenging when you lose key players. It has been tough to establish new hierarchies but the outcomes we have had recently show that we have developed a good squad with quality players. It is requiring patience to build and we are still progressing. But if we are getting results and not losing that is a good place to begin from."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a wrench for Quansah to depart from his long-time club, his team since childhood, where he experienced so many significant occasions – such as the league cup triumph over their London rivals in the previous season when he was introduced as an extra-time substitute.

Quansah was also involved in last season'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 multiple matches in the league, his four starts and nine appearances comparing unfavourably with his statistics from 2023‑24 when he started nine games.

Career Development

"I consistently developed off some of the best players around me at my former club and it's been incredibly beneficial for my career," he comments. "However, for a developing defender, you need games and I'm will require 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 elite performers throughout the squad. I wanted somewhere where they can trust that I could errors at times but they will look under that and see I can keep pushing and pushing."

Foundation Building

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

"That was a genuine revelation," Quansah says. "It was a extremely important chapter in my development because I wanted to make the next step to playing first-team football. Every game I learned something new. That's where I knew how crucial experience and playing games was. You could suggest it informed my decision in the off-season."