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"From the outside, it seems crazy," the young defender says, as he reflects on his recent summer, when dizzying change felt like a constant. "But it is one of them ... football is a crazy game."

A Quick Recap

Days after winning the European Under-21 Championship with England at the conclusion of June, Quansah decided to leave his childhood club, to go to the Bundesliga side in a multi-million pound transfer.

The big fee brought big pressure as the young defender was charged with settling in in a new country and at a team where the churn was dramatic. Erik ten Hag had taken over to replace Xabi Alonso and a host of key players were departing or already left – including several high-profile names, key squad members, Jeremie Frimpong, prominent athletes, experienced professionals, established players and Jonathan Tah.

League Introduction

Quansah's first league appearance came on August 23rd at their home ground to Hoffenheim and the central defender found the net after the opening minutes, though the achievement was undercut by sadness. His primary thought was his former Liverpool teammate, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah performed his teammate's signature celebration as a tribute.

"Scoring on your first Bundesliga match, at home, after five minutes, is certainly a whirlwind," Quansah says. "However, my dominant emotion was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Early Challenges

The player could have been excused for questioning what he had signed up for at the German club. From the promising start in their first league game, they fell to a 2-1 defeat and the next match on 30 August was equally disappointing. The squad threw away comfortable advantages to draw 3-3 at their reduced opponents, the tying goal coming in stoppage time. It was not Ten Hag's team for very long. His dismissal came on September 1st.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah does not come across as the kind to worry. If calmness defines his game, it was on show during the conversation he gave after joining the national team 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 – play. Hjulmand has brought stability. His squad have three wins and one draw in four league matches along with draws 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 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, selecting Quansah when he named his first squad. After leaving him out in the summer so that Quansah could concentrate on the Under-21 European Championship, he gave him a last-minute inclusion in September when John Stones was compelled to pull out.

Yet to earn 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 squad selection for Wales and Latvia, essentially as a fifth centre-back with Stones fit again. The dream is a first appearance. It is another thing he would certainly handle with ease.

Career Choices

"With my new club, the team were interested in me for a while and that's not only from the manager [Ten Hag]," Quansah says. "They were interested before he got appointed. So understanding it was a type of organizational choice and things would remain consistent with which manager was to take over ... it was straightforward for me to make that decision.

"There were a numerous squad members leaving 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 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 solid foundation to begin from."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a difficult separation for Quansah to leave his long-time club, his team since childhood, where he experienced so many significant occasions – such as the Carabao Cup final victory over their London rivals in 2023‑24 when he was introduced as an late replacement.

Quansah was also involved in last season's Premier League title triumph. Yet his view of much of that was not the perspective he would have preferred. He was an non-playing reserve on 25 occasions in the competition, his four starts and nine appearances falling short compared to his numbers from the prior season when he started nine games.

Professional Growth

"I consistently developed off some of the best players 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 hundreds of games to be at my desired level.

"I just wanted game time 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 certain moments but they will see beyond that and see I can continue developing and improving."

Foundation Building

Quansah remembers his temporary transfer 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 "multiple reality checks", he notes with a grin, beginning with his debut; a heavy loss at their opponents.

"That represented a true eye-opener," Quansah says. "It proved a really valuable chapter in my development because I wanted to make the next step to regular senior competition. Each match I gained fresh insights. That's when I knew how crucial experience and playing games was. You could suggest it influenced my choice in the summer."