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"To an observer, it seems insane," the young defender says, as he reflects on his recent summer, when rapid transformation felt like a constant. "But it is one of them ... football is a unpredictable game."

A Quick Recap

Days after claiming victory in the U21 European Championship with England at the conclusion of June, Quansah decided to leave his childhood club, to join 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 team where the churn was dramatic. The new manager had taken over to replace the previous coach and a number of star performers were gone or going – chief among them several high-profile names, Piero Hincapié, Jeremie Frimpong, Amine Adli, experienced professionals, established players and Jonathan Tah.

League Introduction

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on August 23rd at their home ground to their opponents and the central defender scored after the opening minutes, albeit the achievement was undercut by sadness. His primary thought was his former Liverpool teammate, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah executed his teammate's signature celebration as a tribute.

"Scoring on your Bundesliga debut, at home, after the opening moments, is certainly a rollercoaster," Quansah says. "But my overwhelming feeling was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Early Challenges

The player could have been excused for questioning what he had committed to at Leverkusen. After the encouraging beginning in their first league game, they fell to a 2-1 defeat and the next match on August 30th was just as bad. The squad threw away 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. His dismissal came on 1 September.

Staying Focused

Quansah doesn't appear to be the type to fret. If calmness characterizes his playing style, it was on show during the interview he participated in after being selected for the national team for the international friendly against their rivals and the World Cup qualifier against Latvia.

Quansah has kept his head down under the current coach, Kasper Hjulmand, and persisted in doing what he always intended to do at the club – play. The new manager has established consistency. His team have positive results in their domestic campaign along with draws in each of their Champions League ties. But there is a more significant number that motivates the player, even bringing a measure of vindication. It is the one which shows he has played every minute of the club's campaign.

National Team Attention

It is something that Thomas Tuchel has observed. The England head coach was a fan last season, including him when he announced his initial selection. After omitting him in the summer so that Quansah could concentrate on the youth tournament, he provided him with a last-minute inclusion in September when the experienced defender was compelled to pull out.

Still to win his first cap, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in practice sessions and within the squad environment because he was selected at the outset in Tuchel'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 certainly handle with ease.

Decision Making

"With my new club, the club were keen on signing me for a considerable time and that's not only from the coach," Quansah says. "They were interested prior to his arrival. So knowing it was a sort of internal decision and things would remain consistent with whatever coach was to take over ... it was straightforward for me to choose this path.

"We had a numerous squad members departing and it's consistently challenging when you lose key players. It has been tough to establish new hierarchies but the results we have had recently demonstrate 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 getting results and avoiding defeats that is a solid foundation to start."

Leaving Childhood Club

It had to have been a difficult separation for Quansah to leave his long-time club, his team since childhood, where he enjoyed so many significant occasions – such as the Carabao Cup final victory over their London rivals in 2023‑24 when he was introduced as an late replacement.

Quansah was also a part of last season'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 competition, his limited playing time falling short compared to his numbers from 2023‑24 when he featured more regularly.

Professional Growth

"I've always learned off top-level professionals around me at Liverpool and it's been so good for my career," he says. "But as a young centre-back, 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 top-level club, it's not guaranteed because there are world-class players all over the pitch. I wanted an environment where they can trust that I might make mistakes at certain moments but they will see beyond that and see I can continue developing and pushing."

Foundation Building

Quansah recalls his temporary transfer to the lower division club in the second-half of 2022-23 where he made his first senior appearances – 16 of them, to be exact. There were "multiple reality checks", he says with a smile, beginning with his first game; a heavy loss at their opponents.

"That was a genuine revelation," Quansah reflects. "It proved a really valuable chapter in my development because I wanted to make the subsequent progression to playing first-team football. Each match I gained fresh insights. That's when I understood how valuable practical knowledge and match practice was. You could say it informed my decision in the off-season."