🔗 Share this article Leverkusen's Quansah Keeps Calm and Continues Onward in His Steady Rise to Football Fame "To an observer, it seems insane," Jarell Quansah says, as he looks back 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 claiming victory in the European Under-21 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 equalled big pressure as the 22-year-old was charged with finding his feet in a foreign land and at a team where the churn was substantial. The new manager had stepped in to succeed the previous coach and a number of key players were departing or already left – including Florian Wirtz, key squad members, Jeremie Frimpong, Amine Adli, Granit Xhaka, Lukas Hradecky and team leaders. League Introduction Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on 23 August at home to their opponents and the central defender scored after five minutes, though the achievement was undercut by tragedy. All he could think about was Diogo Jota, who was tragically lost in a road incident. Quansah executed 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 certainly a whirlwind," 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 committed to at Leverkusen. From the promising start in their opening league fixture, they succumbed to a 2-1 defeat and the following game on August 30th was equally disappointing. Ten Hag's team threw away 2-0 and 3-1 leads to finish level 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 1 September. Maintaining Composure Quansah doesn't appear to be the type to fret. If calmness characterizes his playing style, it was on show during the interview 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 persisted in doing what he originally planned to do at the club – play. The new manager has established consistency. His squad have positive results in four league matches along with draws in each of their Champions League ties. But there is a more significant number that encourages Quansah, even bringing a measure of vindication. It is the one which shows he has played every minute of the club's campaign. National Team Attention It is one that Thomas Tuchel has noted. The England head coach was a admirer previously, selecting Quansah when he announced his initial selection. After omitting him in the summer so that Quansah could focus on the youth tournament, he gave him a last-minute inclusion in September when John Stones was forced to withdraw. Still to win his international debut, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in practice sessions and within the squad environment because he was named at the beginning in the manager's squad selection for Wales and Latvia, essentially as a additional defensive option with Stones fit again. The aspiration is a first appearance. It is another thing he would surely take in his stride. Decision Making "At Leverkusen, the team were keen on signing me for a considerable time and that's not just 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 take over ... it was easy for me to choose this path. "We had a lot of players departing and it's always tough when you see important figures leave. It has been difficult to establish new hierarchies but the outcomes we have had [under Hjulmand] show that we have got 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 begin from." Leaving Childhood Club It had to have been a wrench for Quansah to leave Liverpool, his club from the age of five, where he enjoyed 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 a part of last season's domestic championship success. Yet his perspective 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 limited playing time falling short compared to his numbers from 2023‑24 when he featured more regularly. Professional Growth "I consistently developed off some of the best players around me at my former club and it's been incredibly beneficial for my career," he says. "However, for a developing defender, you need games and I'm going to be needing 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 guaranteed because there are elite performers all over the pitch. 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 pushing." Early Experience Quansah remembers his loan to League One Bristol Rovers in the later part of that season where he debuted at professional level – multiple matches, 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 represented a genuine revelation," Quansah reflects. "It was a extremely important part of my career because I wanted to make the subsequent progression to regular senior competition. Every game I learned something new. That's where I knew how valuable experience and playing games was. You could say it influenced my decision in the summer."