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"From the outside, it appears insane," the young defender 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 crazy game."

A Brief Summary

Shortly after claiming victory in the U21 European Championship with England at the conclusion of June, Quansah decided to leave his childhood club, to join the Bundesliga side in a £30m deal.

The big fee brought high expectations as the 22-year-old was charged with finding his feet in a foreign land and at a team where the churn was substantial. Erik ten Hag had stepped in to succeed the previous coach and a number of key players were departing or already left – chief among them Florian Wirtz, key squad members, Jeremie Frimpong, prominent athletes, Granit Xhaka, Lukas Hradecky and Jonathan Tah.

League Introduction

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on 23 August at their home ground to their opponents and the centre-half found the net after the opening minutes, albeit the achievement was undercut by tragedy. His primary thought was his former Liverpool teammate, 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 first Bundesliga match, at home, after the opening moments, is definitely a rollercoaster," Quansah says. "But my overwhelming feeling was that it was a homage to Diogo."

Initial Struggles

The player could have been excused for questioning what he had signed up for at Leverkusen. After the encouraging beginning in their opening league fixture, they succumbed to a narrow loss and the following game on 30 August was equally disappointing. The squad squandered 2-0 and 3-1 leads to finish level at 10-man Werder Bremen, the equaliser coming in stoppage time. It was no longer his responsibility for much longer. He was sacked on September 1st.

Staying Focused

Quansah doesn't appear to be the type to fret. If composure defines his game, it was on show during the conversation he gave 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 new Leverkusen manager, Kasper Hjulmand, and continued to do what he originally planned to do at the team – play. The new manager has brought stability. His team have positive results in four league matches along with draws 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 something that Thomas Tuchel has observed. The England head coach was a admirer last season, selecting Quansah when he named his first squad. After omitting him in June so that Quansah could focus on the Under-21 European Championship, he gave him a late call-up in September when the experienced defender was compelled to pull out.

Yet to earn his international debut, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in training and around the camp because he was named at the outset in the manager's 24‑man group for the upcoming matches, essentially as a fifth centre-back with Stones fit again. The dream is a first appearance. It is another thing he would surely handle with ease.

Decision Making

"At Leverkusen, the team were keen on signing me for a considerable time and that's not just from the coach," Quansah says. "They were interested before he got appointed. So understanding it was a sort of organizational choice and things would remain consistent with whatever coach was to take over ... it was easy for me to make that decision.

"We had a lot of players leaving and it's consistently challenging when you lose key players. It has been difficult to establish new hierarchies but the results we have had recently demonstrate that we have developed a good squad with talented individuals. It is requiring patience to build and we are not where we want to be. But if we are getting results and not losing that is a good place to begin from."

Leaving Childhood Club

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 a part of last season's Premier League title triumph. Yet his perspective of most of that achievement was not the perspective he would have preferred. He was an unused substitute on multiple matches in the competition, his four starts and nine appearances comparing unfavourably with his numbers from 2023‑24 when he featured more regularly.

Career Development

"I consistently developed off top-level professionals around me at my former club and it's been so good for my professional development," he says. "However, for a developing defender, you require match experience and I'm will require extensive playing time to be at my desired level.

"I just wanted regular playing opportunities and when you are at a top-level club, it's not promised because there are elite performers all over the pitch. I wanted somewhere where they can trust that I could errors at certain moments but they will see beyond that and recognize I can keep pushing and pushing."

Foundation Building

Quansah remembers his loan to League One Bristol Rovers 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, beginning with his debut; a heavy loss at their opponents.

"That was a genuine revelation," Quansah reflects. "It proved a really valuable part of my career because I wanted to make the next step to regular senior competition. Each match I gained fresh insights. That's where I knew how valuable practical knowledge and playing games was. You could say it influenced my decision in the summer."