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"From the outside, it appears crazy," the young defender remarks, as he looks back on his summer just gone, when rapid transformation felt like a constant. "However, that's just how it goes ... football is a unpredictable game."

A Quick Recap

Days after winning the European Under-21 Championship with the English national team at the end of June, Quansah opted to depart from his childhood club, to go to Bayer Leverkusen in a multi-million pound transfer.

The big fee equalled high expectations as the 22-year-old was tasked with finding his feet in a new country and at a team where the turnover was substantial. The new manager had stepped in to succeed Xabi Alonso and a host of star performers were gone or going – chief among them several high-profile names, Piero Hincapié, influential figures, prominent athletes, experienced professionals, established players and team leaders.

League Introduction

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on August 23rd at home to their opponents 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 killed in a car accident. Quansah performed his teammate's signature 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 says. "But my overwhelming feeling was that it was a homage to Diogo."

Early Challenges

The defender could have been excused for questioning what he had committed to at the German club. From the promising start in their opening league fixture, they fell to a narrow loss and the following game on 30 August was equally disappointing. Ten Hag's team threw away 2-0 and 3-1 leads to draw 3-3 at their reduced opponents, the equaliser coming in stoppage time. It was not Ten Hag's team for very long. His dismissal came on September 1st.

Staying Focused

Quansah doesn't appear to be the type to fret. If composure characterizes his playing style, it was evident during the conversation he gave after joining England for the international friendly against their rivals and the qualifying match against their next opponents.

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 team – play. The new manager has established consistency. 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 encourages Quansah, even bringing a measure of vindication. It is the one which shows he has been ever-present of the team's season.

International Recognition

It is one that the England head coach has noted. The England head coach was a admirer last season, selecting Quansah when he announced his initial selection. After omitting him in June so that Quansah could concentrate on the youth tournament, he provided him with a last-minute inclusion in the autumn when John Stones was compelled to pull out.

Still to win his first cap, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in training and around the camp because he was selected at the outset in Tuchel's squad selection for the upcoming matches, effectively as a fifth centre-back with the regular starter returning. The aspiration is a debut. It is one more milestone he would certainly take in his stride.

Decision Making

"At Leverkusen, the club were keen on signing me for a considerable time and that's not just from the manager [Ten Hag]," Quansah says. "Their interest existed before he got appointed. So understanding it was a sort of internal decision and nothing would change with which manager was to come in ... it was easy for me to make that decision.

"There were a numerous squad members departing and it's always tough when you lose key players. It has been difficult to build the leadership groups but the outcomes we have had [under Hjulmand] show that we have developed a competitive team with talented individuals. It is requiring patience to develop and we are not where we want to be. 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 difficult separation for Quansah to depart from Liverpool, his team since childhood, where he experienced so many memorable moments – such as the league cup triumph over their London rivals in 2023‑24 when he came on as an extra-time substitute.

Quansah was also involved in the previous campaign's domestic championship success. Yet his perspective of most of that achievement was not the perspective he would have preferred. He was an unused substitute on 25 occasions in the league, his four starts and nine appearances falling short compared to his numbers from 2023‑24 when he started nine games.

Professional Growth

"I've always learned off top-level professionals around me at Liverpool and it's been incredibly beneficial for my professional development," he comments. "However, for a developing defender, you need games and I'm will require extensive playing time 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 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 look under that and see I can continue developing and improving."

Early Experience

Quansah remembers his loan to League One Bristol Rovers in the second-half of 2022-23 where he debuted at professional level – 16 of them, to be precise. There were "multiple reality checks", he says with a grin, beginning with his first game; a 5-1 defeat at Morecambe.

"That was a genuine revelation," Quansah reflects. "It proved a really valuable chapter in my development because I wanted to make the next step to regular senior competition. Each match I learned something new. That's where I knew how valuable experience and match practice was. You could say it informed my decision in the off-season."