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"To an observer, it appears crazy," the young defender says, 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 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 big fee equalled high expectations as the young defender was charged with finding his feet in a new country and at a club where the turnover was substantial. The new manager had taken over to replace the previous coach and a host of key players were gone or going – chief among them several high-profile names, key squad members, Jeremie Frimpong, prominent athletes, Granit Xhaka, Lukas Hradecky and Jonathan Tah.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's first league appearance came on 23 August at their home ground to Hoffenheim and the centre-half found the net after five minutes, albeit the goal was undercut by tragedy. All he could think about 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 Bundesliga debut, in front of home fans, after five minutes, is definitely a whirlwind," Quansah says. "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. From the promising start in their opening league fixture, they succumbed to a 2-1 defeat and the following game on August 30th was equally disappointing. Ten Hag's team squandered 2-0 and 3-1 leads to finish level at 10-man Werder Bremen, the equaliser coming in added time. It was not Ten Hag's team for much longer. He was sacked on 1 September.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah does not come across as the kind to worry. If calmness characterizes his playing style, it was on show during the interview he participated in after being selected for England for the Wembley friendly against Wales and the World Cup qualifier against their next opponents.

Quansah has remained focused under the new Leverkusen manager, the Danish tactician, and continued to do what he originally planned to do at the team – play. The new manager has brought stability. 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 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 something that Thomas Tuchel has noted. The national team manager was a fan previously, selecting Quansah when he named his first squad. After omitting him in June so that Quansah could concentrate on the Under-21 European Championship, he provided him with a late call-up in the autumn when the experienced defender was forced to withdraw.

Yet to earn his international debut, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in practice sessions and around the camp because he was named at the beginning in Tuchel's 24‑man group for the upcoming matches, effectively as a additional defensive option with the regular starter returning. The aspiration is a first appearance. It is one more milestone he would surely take in his stride.

Career Choices

"At Leverkusen, the club were keen on signing me for a considerable time and that's not only from the coach," Quansah says. "Their interest existed before he got appointed. So knowing it was a sort of organizational choice and things would remain consistent with which manager was to come in ... it was straightforward for me to choose this path.

"There were a lot of players leaving 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 achieving positive outcomes 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 Liverpool, his club from the age of five, where he enjoyed so many significant occasions – such as the Carabao Cup final victory over Chelsea in 2023‑24 when he came on as an extra-time substitute.

Quansah was also a part of the previous campaign's domestic championship success. Yet his view of much of that was not the one he would have preferred. He was an unused substitute on 25 occasions in the competition, his limited playing time falling short compared to his statistics from 2023‑24 when he featured more regularly.

Professional Growth

"I consistently developed off some of the best players around me at Liverpool and it's been so good for my professional development," he says. "However, for a developing defender, you need games and I'm going to be needing extensive playing time to be where I want to be.

"My primary desire was regular playing opportunities and when you are at a team like Liverpool, it's not promised because there are world-class players throughout the squad. I wanted an environment where they can trust that I could errors at times but they will look under that and recognize I can keep pushing and pushing."

Early Experience

Quansah recalls his temporary transfer to the lower division club in the later part of that season where he made his first senior appearances – multiple matches, to be precise. There were "multiple reality checks", he notes with a grin, starting with his debut; a heavy loss at their opponents.

"That represented a true eye-opener," Quansah reflects. "It was a extremely important chapter in my development because I wanted to make the next step to playing first-team football. Each match I learned something new. That's when I understood how valuable experience and playing games was. You could say it influenced my decision in the summer."