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"From the outside, it seems crazy," Jarell Quansah remarks, as he reflects on his summer just gone, 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 England at the conclusion of June, Quansah decided to leave Liverpool, to join the Bundesliga side in a £30m deal.

The big fee brought big pressure as the young defender was charged with settling in in a new country and at a club where the turnover was substantial. The new manager had taken over to replace the previous coach and a number of key players were gone or going – chief among them several high-profile names, Piero Hincapié, Jeremie Frimpong, Amine Adli, experienced professionals, Lukas Hradecky and team leaders.

League Introduction

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on 23 August at their home ground to Hoffenheim and the centre-half found the net after five minutes, though the goal was overshadowed 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.

"Scoring on your Bundesliga debut, in front of home fans, after five minutes, is definitely a rollercoaster," Quansah states. "But my overwhelming feeling was that it was a homage to Diogo."

Initial Struggles

The defender could have been excused for questioning what he had signed up for at Leverkusen. From the promising start in their opening league fixture, they succumbed to a narrow loss and the following game on August 30th was just as bad. Ten Hag's team squandered comfortable advantages to draw 3-3 at 10-man Werder Bremen, the equaliser coming in added time. It was no longer his responsibility for very long. His dismissal came on 1 September.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah doesn't appear to be the type to fret. If composure characterizes his playing style, it was on show during the conversation he gave after being selected for the national team for the Wembley friendly against Wales and the World Cup qualifier against their next opponents.

Quansah has remained focused under the new Leverkusen manager, the Danish tactician, and persisted in doing what he originally planned to do at the team – play. The new manager has established consistency. His team have positive results in their domestic campaign along with ties in each of their European matches. But there is a broader statistic that encourages Quansah, even bringing a sense of justification. It is the one which shows he has been ever-present of the club's campaign.

International Recognition

It is one that the England head coach has observed. The England head coach was a fan previously, selecting Quansah when he named his first squad. After leaving him out in June so that Quansah could focus on the Under-21 European Championship, he provided him with a last-minute inclusion in the autumn when the experienced defender was compelled to pull out.

Yet to earn his first cap, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in training and around the camp because he was selected at the outset in Tuchel's squad selection for Wales and Latvia, effectively as a additional defensive option with Stones fit again. The aspiration is a first appearance. It is one more milestone he would certainly handle with ease.

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 says. "They were interested before he got appointed. So understanding it was a type of internal decision and nothing would change with whatever coach was to come in ... it was straightforward for me to make that decision.

"There were a numerous squad members leaving and it's consistently challenging when you see important figures leave. It has been tough to build the leadership groups but the results we have had recently demonstrate that we have got a competitive team with talented individuals. It is going to take time to develop and we are not where we want to be. But if we are getting results and avoiding defeats that is a good place to start."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a wrench 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 came on as an late replacement.

Quansah was also a part of last season's Premier League title triumph. Yet his view of most of that achievement was not the one he would have preferred. He was an non-playing reserve on 25 occasions in the competition, his limited playing time comparing unfavourably with his numbers from the prior season when he featured more regularly.

Career Development

"I've always learned off some of the best players around me at Liverpool and it's been so good for my career," he says. "But as a young centre-back, you require match experience and I'm going to be needing extensive playing time to be at my desired level.

"My primary desire was game time and when you are at a top-level club, it's not guaranteed because there are elite performers all over the pitch. I wanted somewhere where they can have confidence that I could errors at certain moments but they will look under that and recognize I can continue developing and improving."

Early Experience

Quansah recalls his loan to League One Bristol Rovers in the later part of that season where he debuted at professional level – 16 of them, to be precise. There were "multiple reality checks", he notes with a grin, beginning with his debut; a 5-1 defeat at Morecambe.

"That was a genuine revelation," Quansah says. "It proved a extremely important chapter in my development because I wanted to make the subsequent progression to playing first-team football. Each match I gained fresh insights. That's when I knew how valuable practical knowledge and playing games was. You could suggest it influenced my choice in the summer."