🔗 Share this article

"To an observer, it appears insane," the young defender remarks, as he looks back 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 winning the U21 European Championship with the English national team at the end of June, Quansah decided to leave Liverpool, to join the Bundesliga side in a multi-million pound transfer.

The big fee equalled big pressure as the 22-year-old was charged with settling in in a foreign land and at a team where the churn was substantial. Erik ten Hag had stepped in to replace Xabi Alonso and a number of key players were departing or already left – including Florian Wirtz, key squad members, influential figures, prominent athletes, experienced professionals, Lukas Hradecky and team leaders.

League Introduction

Quansah's first league appearance came on 23 August at home to their opponents and the centre-half found the net after five minutes, though the goal was undercut by sadness. His primary thought was his former Liverpool teammate, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah performed Jota's gamer celebration as a tribute.

"To have a goal on your first Bundesliga match, at home, after five minutes, is definitely a rollercoaster," Quansah says. "However, my dominant emotion was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Initial Struggles

The player could have been excused for questioning what he had committed to at the German club. From the promising start 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 10-man Werder Bremen, the tying goal coming in stoppage 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 evident during the interview he participated in after being selected for the national team for the international friendly against their rivals and the qualifying match against Latvia.

Quansah has remained focused under the new Leverkusen manager, the Danish tactician, and persisted in doing what he always intended 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 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 national team manager was a fan previously, 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 provided him with a late call-up in September when the experienced defender was forced to withdraw.

Still to win his first cap, Quansah must have done something right in practice sessions and around the camp because he was named at the outset in the manager's squad selection for the upcoming matches, effectively as a additional defensive option with the regular starter returning. The aspiration is a debut. It is another thing he would certainly handle with ease.

Decision Making

"With my new club, the team were keen on signing me for a while and that's not just from the coach," Quansah explains. "Their interest existed before he got appointed. So understanding it was a type of organizational choice and nothing would change with which manager was to come in ... it was easy for me to choose this path.

"There were a lot of players departing and it's always tough when you see important figures leave. It has been difficult to establish new hierarchies but the results we have had recently demonstrate that we have got a good squad with quality players. It is requiring patience to develop and we are still progressing. But if we are achieving positive outcomes and avoiding defeats that is a good place to start."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a wrench for Quansah to depart from his long-time club, 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 was introduced as an late replacement.

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

Professional Growth

"I consistently developed off top-level professionals around me at Liverpool and it's been incredibly beneficial for my career," he says. "However, for a developing defender, you need games and I'm will require extensive playing time to be where I want to be.

"I just wanted regular playing opportunities and when you are at a top-level club, it's not guaranteed because there are elite performers all over the pitch. I wanted an environment where they can have confidence that I could errors at times but they will see beyond that and see I can keep pushing and pushing."

Early Experience

Quansah recalls his loan 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 smile, starting with his first game; a heavy loss at Morecambe.

"That represented a true eye-opener," Quansah says. "It proved a really valuable part of my career because I wanted to make the subsequent progression to regular senior competition. Each match I learned something new. That's when I understood how crucial practical knowledge and playing games was. You could say it influenced my decision in the off-season."