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"From the outside, it seems crazy," Jarell Quansah says, as he looks back on his recent summer, when rapid transformation felt like a constant. "But it is one of them ... football is a crazy game."

A Quick Recap

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

The big fee equalled big pressure as the young defender was charged with finding his feet in a new country and at a club where the turnover was dramatic. Erik ten Hag had taken over to succeed the previous coach and a host of star performers were gone or going – including several high-profile names, Piero Hincapié, Jeremie Frimpong, Amine Adli, experienced professionals, Lukas Hradecky and team leaders.

League Introduction

Quansah's first league appearance came on August 23rd at home to Hoffenheim and the central defender found the net after the opening minutes, though 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 performed Jota's gamer celebration as a tribute.

"To have a goal on your first Bundesliga match, in front of home fans, after the opening moments, is definitely a rollercoaster," Quansah states. "But my overwhelming feeling 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 Leverkusen. 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 tying goal coming in added time. It was not Ten Hag's team for much longer. His dismissal came on September 1st.

Staying Focused

Quansah doesn't appear to be the kind to worry. If composure defines his game, it was on show during the conversation he gave after joining England for the Wembley friendly against their rivals and the qualifying match against Latvia.

Quansah has kept his head down under the current coach, the Danish tactician, and persisted in doing what he always intended to do at the club – play. The new manager has brought stability. His team have three wins and one draw in four league matches along with draws in each of their Champions League ties. But there is a broader statistic 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 one that the England head coach has observed. The national team manager was a fan previously, including him when he announced his initial selection. After omitting him in the summer so that Quansah could concentrate 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 first cap, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in practice sessions and within the squad environment because he was named at the beginning in the manager's 24‑man group for Wales and Latvia, effectively as a additional defensive option with the regular starter returning. The aspiration is a debut. It is one more milestone he would surely take in his stride.

Career Choices

"With my new club, the club were interested in me for a while and that's not only from the manager [Ten Hag]," Quansah explains. "Their interest existed before he got appointed. So knowing it was a sort of internal decision and things would remain consistent with which manager was to come in ... it was easy for me to make that decision.

"There were a lot of players leaving and it's always tough when you lose key players. It has been difficult to build the leadership groups but the results we have had recently show that we have developed a good squad with talented individuals. It is requiring patience to build and we are still progressing. But if we are achieving positive outcomes and avoiding defeats that is a good place to start."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a difficult separation for Quansah to depart from Liverpool, his team since childhood, where he enjoyed so many significant occasions – such as the Carabao Cup final victory over Chelsea in the previous season when he was introduced as an late replacement.

Quansah was also a part of last season's domestic championship success. Yet his view of much of that was not the perspective he would have preferred. He was an non-playing reserve on multiple matches in the competition, his four starts and nine appearances comparing unfavourably with his statistics from the prior season when he started nine games.

Career Development

"I consistently developed off some of the best players around me at Liverpool and it's been incredibly beneficial for my career," he says. "But as a young centre-back, 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 elite performers throughout the squad. I wanted an environment where they can trust that I could errors at times but they will see beyond that and see I can continue developing and pushing."

Foundation Building

Quansah recalls 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 "numerous wake-up calls", he notes with a grin, starting with his debut; a 5-1 defeat at Morecambe.

"That represented a genuine revelation," Quansah says. "It was a really valuable chapter in my development because I wanted to make the subsequent progression to playing first-team football. Each match I learned something new. That's when I knew how crucial practical knowledge and playing games was. You could say it influenced my choice in the off-season."