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"From the outside, 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 crazy game."

A Brief Summary

Shortly after claiming victory in the European Under-21 Championship with England at the end of June, Quansah decided to leave his childhood club, to go to Bayer Leverkusen in a multi-million pound transfer.

The big fee brought high expectations as the 22-year-old was charged with settling in in a new country and at a team where the churn was dramatic. The new manager had stepped in to succeed the previous coach and a host of key players were departing or already left – including Florian Wirtz, Piero Hincapié, Jeremie Frimpong, prominent athletes, experienced professionals, established players and team leaders.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's first league appearance came on August 23rd at home to their opponents and the centre-half found the net after five minutes, though the achievement was undercut by sadness. His primary thought was Diogo Jota, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah performed Jota's gamer celebration as a mark of respect.

"Scoring on your Bundesliga debut, at home, after five minutes, is certainly a whirlwind," Quansah states. "But my overwhelming feeling was that it was a homage to Diogo."

Initial Struggles

The player could have been forgiven for wondering what he had signed up for at Leverkusen. From the promising start in their first league game, they succumbed to a 2-1 defeat and the following game on 30 August was just as bad. The squad threw away comfortable advantages to finish level at their reduced opponents, the equaliser coming in added time. It was no longer his responsibility for very long. He was sacked on 1 September.

Staying Focused

Quansah does not come across as the kind to worry. If calmness defines his game, it was on show during the interview he gave after joining the national team for the Wembley friendly against Wales 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 club – play. Hjulmand has established consistency. His team have three wins and one draw in their domestic campaign along with draws 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 one which shows he has played every minute of the club's campaign.

National Team Attention

It is something that Thomas Tuchel has noted. The national team manager 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 Under-21 European Championship, he provided him with a late call-up in the autumn when the experienced defender was compelled to pull out.

Still to win his international debut, Quansah must have done something right in practice sessions and within the squad environment because he was named at the outset in the manager's squad selection for the upcoming matches, effectively as a fifth centre-back with Stones fit again. The dream is a debut. It is another thing he would certainly handle with ease.

Career Choices

"At Leverkusen, the club were interested in me for a considerable time and that's not only from the coach," Quansah says. "Their interest existed before he got appointed. So knowing it was a type of internal decision and things would remain consistent with whatever coach was to come in ... it was easy for me to make that decision.

"There were a numerous squad members departing and it's consistently challenging when you see important figures leave. It has been tough to establish new hierarchies but the results we have had recently demonstrate that we have got a competitive team 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 solid foundation to begin from."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a wrench for Quansah to depart from Liverpool, his team since childhood, where he experienced so many memorable moments – such as the league cup triumph over Chelsea in 2023‑24 when he was introduced as an late replacement.

Quansah was also involved in the previous campaign's Premier League title triumph. Yet his view of most of that achievement was not the perspective he would have chosen. He was an non-playing reserve on multiple matches in the competition, his limited playing time comparing unfavourably with his statistics from 2023‑24 when he started nine games.

Career Development

"I consistently developed off top-level professionals around me at Liverpool and it's been so good for my professional development," he comments. "But as a young centre-back, you require match experience and I'm going to be needing hundreds of games to be where I want to be.

"My primary desire was regular playing opportunities and when you are at a team like Liverpool, it's not promised because there are world-class players throughout the squad. I wanted an environment where they can trust that I might make mistakes at times but they will look under that and see I can keep pushing and pushing."

Early Experience

Quansah remembers his temporary transfer to League One Bristol Rovers in the second-half of 2022-23 where he debuted at professional level – 16 of them, to be precise. There were "numerous wake-up calls", he says with a grin, starting with his first game; a 5-1 defeat at their opponents.

"That was a genuine revelation," Quansah says. "It was a extremely important chapter in my development because I aimed to take the subsequent progression to regular senior competition. Every game I gained fresh insights. That's where I understood how valuable experience and playing games was. You could suggest it influenced my choice in the summer."