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"To an observer, it appears crazy," Jarell Quansah remarks, as he looks back on his recent summer, when rapid transformation felt like a constant. "However, that's just how it goes ... football is a unpredictable game."

A Brief Summary

Shortly after winning the European Under-21 Championship with the English national team at the end of June, Quansah opted to depart from Liverpool, to go to Bayer Leverkusen in a multi-million pound transfer.

The big fee brought high expectations as the 22-year-old was charged with finding his feet in a foreign land and at a club where the churn was dramatic. Erik ten Hag had taken over to replace 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, experienced professionals, Lukas Hradecky and team leaders.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's first league appearance came on 23 August at home to Hoffenheim and the central defender scored after five minutes, though the goal was undercut by sadness. His primary thought 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, in front of home fans, 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 defender could have been excused for questioning what he had committed to at Leverkusen. After the encouraging beginning in their first league game, they succumbed to a narrow loss and the next match on August 30th was just as bad. Ten Hag's team threw away 2-0 and 3-1 leads to finish level at their reduced opponents, the equaliser coming in added time. It was not Ten Hag's team for much longer. He was sacked on 1 September.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah does not come across as the type to fret. If calmness defines his game, it was on show during the interview he gave after joining England for the Wembley friendly against Wales and the qualifying match against their next opponents.

Quansah has kept his head down under the current coach, the Danish tactician, and persisted in doing what he originally planned to do at the club – compete. Hjulmand has established consistency. His team have three wins and one draw in their domestic campaign along with draws in each of their Champions League ties. But there is a broader statistic 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.

International Recognition

It is one that the England head coach has noted. The England head coach was a fan last season, 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 late call-up in September when John Stones was forced to withdraw.

Still to win his international debut, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in practice sessions and around the camp because he was named at the beginning in Tuchel's squad selection for the upcoming matches, essentially as a fifth centre-back with Stones fit again. The aspiration is a first appearance. It is one more milestone he would surely handle with ease.

Career Choices

"At Leverkusen, 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 sort of organizational choice and things would remain consistent with whatever coach was to take over ... it was straightforward for me to choose this path.

"There were a numerous squad members leaving and it's consistently challenging when you lose key players. It has been difficult to build the leadership groups but the results we have had [under Hjulmand] demonstrate that we have got a good squad with quality players. It is going to take time to build and we are not where we want to be. But if we are getting results and not losing that is a solid foundation to start."

Leaving Childhood Club

It had to have been a wrench for Quansah to leave Liverpool, his team since childhood, where he enjoyed so many memorable moments – such as the Carabao Cup final victory over their London rivals in the previous season when he was introduced as an extra-time substitute.

Quansah was also a part of the previous campaign's domestic championship success. Yet his perspective of much of that was not the one he would have preferred. He was an unused substitute on 25 occasions in the league, his limited playing time comparing unfavourably with his statistics from the prior season when he started nine games.

Career Development

"I've always learned off top-level professionals around me at Liverpool and it's been incredibly beneficial 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 where I want to be.

"My primary desire was regular playing opportunities and when you are at a top-level club, it's not promised because there are world-class players throughout the squad. I wanted somewhere where they can have confidence that I might make mistakes at times but they will look under that and see I can continue developing and improving."

Early Experience

Quansah remembers his temporary transfer to the lower division club 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 says with a grin, beginning with his debut; a heavy loss at Morecambe.

"That represented a genuine revelation," Quansah says. "It proved a extremely important part of my career because I aimed to take the next step to regular senior competition. Each match I learned something new. That's where I understood how valuable experience and match practice was. You could say it influenced my choice in the summer."