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"To an observer, it appears crazy," Jarell Quansah says, as he looks back on his summer just gone, when dizzying change felt like a constant. "But it is one of them ... football is a unpredictable game."

A Brief Summary

Days after claiming victory in the European Under-21 Championship with England at the end of June, Quansah opted to depart from Liverpool, to join the Bundesliga side in a £30m deal.

The big fee equalled big pressure as the young defender was charged with settling in in a new country and at a team where the churn was dramatic. Erik ten Hag had taken over to succeed the previous coach and a number of key players were departing or already left – chief among them several high-profile names, Piero Hincapié, influential figures, Amine Adli, experienced professionals, Lukas Hradecky and Jonathan Tah.

League Introduction

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on August 23rd at their home ground to their opponents and the centre-half found the net after the opening minutes, albeit the achievement was undercut by tragedy. All he could think about was his former Liverpool teammate, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah performed Jota's gamer celebration as a mark of respect.

"To have a goal on your Bundesliga debut, in front of home fans, after five minutes, is definitely a rollercoaster," Quansah states. "However, my dominant emotion 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 the German club. 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. The squad squandered comfortable advantages to draw 3-3 at their reduced opponents, the tying goal coming in added time. It was no longer his responsibility for very long. He was sacked on September 1st.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah doesn't appear to be the type to fret. If composure characterizes his playing style, it was evident during the conversation he gave after joining the national team for the international friendly against their rivals and the World Cup qualifier 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 – compete. Hjulmand has established consistency. His squad have three wins and one draw in four league matches along with ties in each of their Champions League ties. But there is a broader statistic that encourages Quansah, even bringing a sense of justification. It is the fact that demonstrates he has played every minute of the team's season.

International Recognition

It is something that the England head coach has noted. The England head coach was a admirer last season, selecting Quansah when he named his first squad. After omitting him in June so that Quansah could concentrate on the youth tournament, he gave him a last-minute inclusion in September when John Stones was forced to withdraw.

Yet to earn his first cap, Quansah must have done something right in practice sessions and within the squad environment because he was selected at the outset in the manager's 24‑man group for the upcoming matches, effectively as a additional defensive option with the regular starter returning. The aspiration is a first appearance. It is another thing he would certainly handle with ease.

Career Choices

"At Leverkusen, the team were keen on signing me for a considerable time and that's not only from the coach," Quansah says. "Their interest existed prior to his arrival. So knowing it was a sort of organizational choice and things would remain consistent with which manager was to take over ... it was straightforward for me to choose this path.

"We had a lot of players departing and it's always tough when you lose key players. It has been tough to build the leadership groups but the outcomes we have had [under Hjulmand] show that we have developed a good squad with talented individuals. It is requiring patience to develop and we are not where we want to be. But if we are achieving positive outcomes and avoiding defeats that is a good place to start."

Leaving Childhood Club

It had to have been a wrench for Quansah to leave Liverpool, his club from the age of five, where he experienced so many memorable moments – such as the Carabao Cup final victory over Chelsea in the previous season when he came on as an extra-time substitute.

Quansah was also involved in the previous campaign's Premier League title triumph. Yet his view of much of that was not the perspective he would have chosen. He was an non-playing reserve on multiple matches in the league, his limited playing time comparing unfavourably with his statistics from the prior season 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 professional development," he says. "But as a young centre-back, you need games and I'm will require hundreds of games to be at my desired level.

"I just wanted regular playing opportunities and when you are at a top-level club, it's not promised because there are world-class players all over the pitch. I wanted an environment where they can have confidence that I might make mistakes at times but they will look under that and recognize I can continue developing and improving."

Foundation Building

Quansah recalls his temporary transfer to League One Bristol Rovers in the later part of that season where he made his first senior appearances – 16 of them, to be exact. There were "multiple reality checks", he says with a grin, starting with his first game; a heavy loss at their opponents.

"That represented a genuine revelation," Quansah says. "It was a extremely important chapter in my development because I wanted to make the subsequent progression to regular senior competition. Every game I gained fresh insights. That's when I understood how valuable experience and match practice was. You could say it informed my choice in the summer."