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"From the outside, it appears insane," the young defender remarks, as he reflects on his recent summer, when rapid transformation felt like a constant. "But it is one of them ... football is a crazy game."

A Quick Recap

Shortly after winning the U21 European Championship with England at the end of June, Quansah opted to depart from his childhood club, to join the Bundesliga side in a £30m deal.

The significant transfer sum equalled big pressure as the 22-year-old was tasked with settling in in a new country and at a team where the churn was dramatic. Erik ten Hag had taken over to replace Xabi Alonso and a number of key players were gone or going – including Florian Wirtz, Piero Hincapié, Jeremie Frimpong, prominent athletes, Granit Xhaka, established players and Jonathan Tah.

League Introduction

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on 23 August at home to Hoffenheim and the central defender 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 killed in a car accident. Quansah performed his teammate's signature celebration as a mark of respect.

"Scoring on your Bundesliga debut, in front of home fans, after the opening moments, is certainly a whirlwind," Quansah states. "However, my dominant emotion was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Early Challenges

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 2-1 defeat and the following game on 30 August was equally disappointing. Ten Hag's team threw away 2-0 and 3-1 leads to draw 3-3 at 10-man Werder Bremen, the equaliser coming in added time. It was no longer his responsibility for much longer. He was sacked on 1 September.

Staying Focused

Quansah does not come across as the type to fret. If calmness defines his game, it was on show during the conversation he participated in after being selected for England for the international friendly against Wales and the qualifying match against their next opponents.

Quansah has remained focused under the current coach, Kasper Hjulmand, and continued to do what he originally planned to do at the team – play. The new manager 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 more significant number that motivates the player, 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 Thomas Tuchel has noted. The national team manager was a fan previously, selecting Quansah when he named his first squad. After leaving him out in the summer so that Quansah could concentrate on the youth tournament, he gave him a last-minute inclusion in the autumn when the experienced defender was forced to withdraw.

Still to win his international debut, Quansah must have done something right in training and around the camp because he was selected at the beginning in Tuchel's squad selection for the upcoming matches, essentially as a additional defensive option with the regular starter returning. The dream is a debut. It is another thing he would surely handle with ease.

Career Choices

"With my new club, the club were keen on signing me for a while and that's not just from the coach," Quansah says. "They were interested prior to his arrival. So understanding it was a sort of internal decision and nothing would change with which manager was to take over ... it was easy for me to make that decision.

"There were a lot of players departing and it's consistently challenging when you lose key players. It has been tough to establish new hierarchies but the outcomes we have had recently show that we have developed a competitive team with talented individuals. It is going to take time to build and we are not where we want to be. But if we are getting results and avoiding defeats that is a good place to begin from."

Leaving Childhood Club

It had to have been a difficult separation for Quansah to depart from his long-time club, his team since childhood, where he experienced so many significant occasions – such as the league cup triumph over Chelsea in 2023‑24 when he came on as an extra-time substitute.

Quansah was also involved in the previous campaign's Premier League title triumph. Yet his perspective of much of that was not the perspective he would have chosen. He was an unused substitute on multiple matches in the competition, his four starts and nine appearances falling short compared to his statistics from 2023‑24 when he featured more regularly.

Career Development

"I consistently developed off top-level professionals around me at my former club and it's been so good for my professional development," he says. "However, for a developing defender, you need games and I'm going to be needing hundreds of games to be at my desired level.

"My primary desire was game time and when you are at a team like Liverpool, it's not guaranteed because there are elite performers throughout the squad. I wanted an environment where they can trust that I might make mistakes at times but they will see beyond that and recognize I can continue developing and pushing."

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 – multiple matches, to be precise. There were "multiple reality checks", he says with a smile, starting with his debut; a 5-1 defeat at their opponents.

"That represented a true eye-opener," Quansah reflects. "It proved a extremely important part of my career because I wanted to make the next step to playing first-team football. Every game I gained fresh insights. That's where I understood how crucial experience and playing games was. You could say it informed my choice in the summer."