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"To an observer, it appears insane," Jarell Quansah says, as he looks back on his summer just gone, when rapid transformation felt like a constant. "But it is one of them ... football is a unpredictable game."

A Quick Recap

Days after claiming victory in the European Under-21 Championship with the English national team at the end of June, Quansah opted to depart from Liverpool, to go to the Bundesliga side in a £30m deal.

The big fee brought big pressure as the young defender was charged with finding his feet in a new country and at a team where the turnover was substantial. Erik ten Hag had stepped in to replace the previous coach and a host of key players were departing or already left – chief among them Florian Wirtz, key squad members, Jeremie Frimpong, prominent athletes, Granit Xhaka, established players and Jonathan Tah.

League Introduction

Quansah's first league appearance came on August 23rd at their home ground to their opponents and the central defender scored after the opening minutes, though the goal was undercut by sadness. All he could think about was Diogo Jota, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah performed his teammate's signature celebration as a mark of respect.

"To have a goal on your Bundesliga debut, in front of home fans, after five minutes, is definitely a whirlwind," Quansah states. "However, my dominant emotion was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Initial Struggles

The player could have been forgiven for wondering what he had signed up for at Leverkusen. After the encouraging beginning in their first league game, they succumbed to a 2-1 defeat and the next match on 30 August was just as bad. The squad squandered 2-0 and 3-1 leads to finish level at 10-man Werder Bremen, the tying goal coming in added time. It was no longer his responsibility for much longer. His dismissal came on September 1st.

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 participated in after being selected for England for the international friendly against their rivals and the qualifying match against their next opponents.

Quansah has remained focused under the new Leverkusen manager, Kasper Hjulmand, and persisted in doing what he originally planned to do at the club – compete. Hjulmand has brought stability. His team have positive results in their domestic campaign along with draws in each of their Champions League ties. But there is a broader statistic that encourages Quansah, even bringing a measure of vindication. It is the one which shows he has played every minute of the team's season.

International Recognition

It is something that the England head coach has observed. The national team manager was a admirer previously, including him when he named his first squad. After leaving him out in June so that Quansah could focus on the youth tournament, he provided him with a last-minute inclusion in the autumn when John Stones was forced to withdraw.

Still to win his international debut, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in practice sessions and around the camp because he was named at the outset in Tuchel's 24‑man group for the upcoming matches, effectively as a fifth centre-back with the regular starter returning. The aspiration is a debut. It is another thing he would surely handle with ease.

Career Choices

"With my new club, the club were keen on signing me for a while and that's not just from the coach," Quansah says. "They were interested before he got appointed. So understanding it was a sort of internal decision and nothing would change with whatever coach was to come in ... it was straightforward 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 build the leadership groups but the outcomes we have had [under Hjulmand] show that we have got a competitive team with quality players. It is requiring patience to develop and we are not where we want to be. But if we are achieving positive outcomes and avoiding defeats that is a good place to begin from."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a difficult separation for Quansah to leave his long-time club, his club from the age of five, where he enjoyed so many significant occasions – such as the Carabao Cup final victory over Chelsea in the previous season when he came on as an late replacement.

Quansah was also involved in the previous campaign's Premier League title triumph. Yet his view of much of that was not the one he would have preferred. He was an non-playing reserve on 25 occasions in the competition, his four starts and nine appearances comparing unfavourably with his numbers from the prior season when he featured more regularly.

Career Development

"I consistently developed off top-level professionals around me at Liverpool and it's been incredibly beneficial for my career," he comments. "But as a young centre-back, you require match experience and I'm going to be needing hundreds of games to be where I want to be.

"I just wanted game time and when you are at a team like Liverpool, it's not promised because there are elite performers throughout the squad. I wanted an environment where they can trust that I might make mistakes at certain moments but they will see beyond that and recognize I can continue developing and pushing."

Early Experience

Quansah remembers his temporary transfer to League One Bristol Rovers in the later part of that season where he debuted at professional level – 16 of them, to be exact. There were "multiple reality checks", he says with a grin, 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 aimed to take the subsequent progression to regular senior competition. Every game I learned something new. That's when I understood how crucial experience and match practice was. You could suggest it influenced my decision in the summer."