Leverkusen's Quansah Remains Composed and Continues Onward in His Gradual Ascent to Football Fame

"From the outside, it appears insane," Jarell Quansah 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 U21 European Championship with the English national team at the end of June, Quansah decided to leave 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 charged with settling in in a new country and at a team where the turnover was dramatic. The new manager had taken over to replace Xabi Alonso and a number of star performers were gone or going – including Florian Wirtz, key squad members, Jeremie Frimpong, prominent athletes, Granit Xhaka, Lukas Hradecky and team leaders.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on 23 August at home to Hoffenheim and the centre-half found the net after the opening minutes, though the goal was undercut by tragedy. His primary thought was Diogo Jota, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah executed Jota's gamer celebration as a mark of respect.

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

Initial Struggles

The defender could have been forgiven for wondering what he had committed to at Leverkusen. From the promising start in their opening league fixture, they succumbed to a narrow loss and the next match on August 30th was equally disappointing. The squad squandered 2-0 and 3-1 leads to draw 3-3 at 10-man Werder Bremen, the equaliser coming in stoppage time. It was no longer his responsibility for much longer. His dismissal came 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 participated in after joining England for the Wembley friendly against Wales and the World Cup qualifier against their next opponents.

Quansah has kept his head down under the current coach, Kasper Hjulmand, and persisted in doing what he always intended to do at the club – compete. Hjulmand has brought stability. His team 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 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 the England head coach has noted. The national team manager was a admirer previously, selecting Quansah when he named his first squad. After omitting him in the summer so that Quansah could concentrate on the Under-21 European Championship, he provided him with a last-minute inclusion in September when the experienced defender was compelled to pull out.

Still to win his first cap, Quansah must have done something right in practice sessions and around the camp because he was named at the outset in Tuchel's squad selection for Wales and Latvia, essentially as a fifth centre-back with the regular starter returning. The dream is a first appearance. It is one more milestone he would surely take in his stride.

Career Choices

"At Leverkusen, the team were interested in me for a while and that's not just from the coach," Quansah explains. "Their interest existed before he got appointed. So knowing it was a sort of organizational choice and nothing would change with which manager was to come in ... it was straightforward for me to choose this path.

"We had a lot of players departing and it's consistently challenging when you see important figures leave. 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 still progressing. But if we are achieving positive outcomes and avoiding defeats that is a good place to start."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a difficult separation for Quansah to leave Liverpool, his team since childhood, where he experienced so many significant occasions – such as the league cup triumph over Chelsea 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 chosen. He was an non-playing reserve on 25 occasions in the league, his limited playing time comparing unfavourably with his statistics from the prior season when he started nine games.

Professional Growth

"I consistently developed off top-level professionals around me at my former club and it's been incredibly beneficial for my career," he comments. "However, for a developing defender, you require match experience and I'm going to be needing hundreds of games 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 trust that I could errors at certain moments but they will see beyond that and see I can keep pushing and improving."

Foundation Building

Quansah recalls his loan to the lower division club in the later part of that season where he made his first senior appearances – multiple matches, to be exact. There were "numerous wake-up calls", he says with a smile, starting with his debut; a 5-1 defeat at their opponents.

"That was a genuine revelation," Quansah reflects. "It proved a really valuable chapter in my development because I wanted to make the subsequent progression to regular senior competition. Each match I learned something new. That's where I understood how valuable practical knowledge and match practice was. You could say it informed my decision in the summer."