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"From the outside, it appears insane," the young defender says, as he looks back on his recent summer, when dizzying change felt like a constant. "However, that's just how it goes ... football is a crazy game."

A Quick Recap

Days after winning the European Under-21 Championship with England at the conclusion of June, Quansah opted to depart from Liverpool, to go to Bayer Leverkusen in a multi-million pound transfer.

The significant transfer sum brought big pressure as the 22-year-old was tasked with settling in 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 host of star performers were departing or already left – including Florian Wirtz, key squad members, influential figures, Amine Adli, experienced professionals, established players and team leaders.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's first league appearance came on 23 August at home to Hoffenheim and the centre-half found the net after five minutes, though the achievement was overshadowed by sadness. 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 mark of respect.

"To have a goal on your first Bundesliga match, at home, after the opening moments, is definitely a whirlwind," Quansah says. "But my overwhelming feeling was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Initial Struggles

The player could have been excused for questioning what he had committed to at Leverkusen. From the promising start in their first league game, they succumbed to a narrow loss and the following game on August 30th was equally disappointing. The squad squandered comfortable advantages to draw 3-3 at 10-man Werder Bremen, the equaliser coming in stoppage time. It was no longer his responsibility for very long. He was sacked on 1 September.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah doesn't appear to be the kind to worry. If composure characterizes his playing style, it was on show during the conversation he gave after being selected for the national team for the international friendly against Wales and the qualifying match against Latvia.

Quansah has remained focused under the new Leverkusen manager, Kasper Hjulmand, and continued to do what he always intended to do at the team – play. Hjulmand has brought stability. His team have three wins and one draw in their domestic campaign along with ties in each of their Champions League ties. But there is a more significant number that encourages Quansah, even bringing a sense of justification. It is the fact that demonstrates he has been ever-present of the team's season.

International Recognition

It is one that the England head coach has observed. The national team manager was a fan last season, including him when he announced his initial selection. After leaving him out in the summer so that Quansah could concentrate on the youth tournament, he gave him a late call-up in September when John Stones was forced to withdraw.

Still to win his first cap, Quansah must have done something right in training 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 the regular starter returning. The aspiration is a debut. It is another thing he would surely take in his stride.

Decision Making

"At Leverkusen, the club were interested in me for a while and that's not just from the manager [Ten Hag]," Quansah explains. "Their interest existed before he got appointed. So understanding it was a sort of organizational choice and things would remain consistent with whatever coach was to come in ... it was easy for me to make that decision.

"We had a numerous squad members departing 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 competitive team with quality players. It is going to take time to develop and we are not where we want to be. But if we are achieving positive outcomes and avoiding defeats that is a solid foundation to begin from."

Leaving Childhood Club

It had to have been a difficult separation 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 Chelsea in the previous season when he came on as an late replacement.

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

Professional Growth

"I consistently developed off some of the best players around me at Liverpool and it's been incredibly beneficial for my professional development," he comments. "However, for a developing defender, you need games and I'm going to be needing hundreds of games to be where I want to be.

"I just wanted game time and when you are at a team like Liverpool, it's not promised because there are elite performers throughout the squad. I wanted somewhere where they can have confidence that I could errors at times but they will look under that and see I can continue developing and pushing."

Foundation Building

Quansah remembers his temporary transfer to the lower division club in the second-half of 2022-23 where he debuted at professional level – multiple matches, to be exact. There were "multiple reality checks", he says with a grin, starting with his first game; a 5-1 defeat at their opponents.

"That was a genuine revelation," Quansah reflects. "It was a extremely important part of my career because I wanted to make the subsequent progression to playing first-team football. Every game I gained fresh insights. That's when I understood how valuable experience and playing games was. You could say it informed my decision in the summer."