🔗 Share this article

"From the outside, it appears crazy," the young defender remarks, as he looks back on his recent summer, when dizzying change felt like a constant. "However, that's just how it goes ... football is a crazy game."

A Brief Summary

Shortly after claiming victory in the U21 European Championship with England at the conclusion of June, Quansah opted to depart from his childhood club, to go to Bayer Leverkusen in a multi-million pound transfer.

The significant transfer sum brought high expectations as the 22-year-old was tasked with settling in in a new country and at a club where the turnover was dramatic. Erik ten Hag had taken over to replace Xabi Alonso and a number of key players were gone or going – chief among them Florian Wirtz, Piero Hincapié, Jeremie Frimpong, prominent athletes, Granit Xhaka, Lukas Hradecky and team leaders.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's first league appearance came on 23 August at their home ground to Hoffenheim and the central defender scored after the opening minutes, albeit the goal was undercut by tragedy. His primary thought was Diogo Jota, who was tragically lost in a road incident. Quansah executed Jota's gamer celebration as a tribute.

"To have a goal 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."

Initial Struggles

The player could have been excused for questioning what he had signed up for at Leverkusen. From the promising start in their first league game, they fell to a narrow loss and the following game on August 30th was equally disappointing. The squad squandered comfortable advantages to finish level at their reduced opponents, the tying goal coming in added time. It was no longer his responsibility for very long. He was sacked on 1 September.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah doesn't appear to be the type to fret. If calmness defines his game, it was evident during the interview he participated in after joining the national team for the international friendly against their rivals and the World Cup qualifier against their next opponents.

Quansah has remained focused under the new Leverkusen manager, Kasper Hjulmand, 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 their domestic campaign along with ties in each of their European matches. But there is a more significant number that encourages Quansah, even bringing a measure of vindication. It is the one which shows he has been ever-present of the team's season.

National Team Attention

It is something that Thomas Tuchel has noted. The England head coach was a fan previously, selecting Quansah when he announced his initial selection. After omitting him in June so that Quansah could focus on the Under-21 European Championship, he gave him a late call-up in the autumn when John Stones 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 beginning in the manager's squad selection for the upcoming matches, essentially as a fifth centre-back with the regular starter returning. The aspiration is a debut. It is one more milestone he would certainly take in his stride.

Decision Making

"With my new club, the club were keen on signing me for a considerable time and that's not just from the manager [Ten Hag]," Quansah explains. "Their interest existed prior to his arrival. So knowing it was a type of organizational choice and nothing would change with which manager was to come in ... it was straightforward for me to make that decision.

"We had a lot of players leaving and it's always tough when you see important figures leave. It has been tough to establish new hierarchies but the outcomes we have had [under Hjulmand] show that we have developed a competitive team with quality players. It is going to take time to build and we are still progressing. But if we are achieving positive outcomes and not losing that is a good place to begin from."

Leaving Childhood Club

It had to have been a wrench for Quansah to leave Liverpool, his club from the age of five, where he enjoyed so many significant occasions – such as the Carabao Cup final victory over their London rivals in 2023‑24 when he came on as an late replacement.

Quansah was also involved in last season's domestic championship success. Yet his view of much of that was not the one he would have preferred. He was an unused substitute on 25 occasions in the competition, his four starts and nine appearances falling short compared to his statistics from 2023‑24 when he featured more regularly.

Professional Growth

"I consistently developed off top-level professionals around me at Liverpool and it's been so good for my career," he comments. "But as a young centre-back, you require match experience and I'm going to be needing extensive playing time to be at my desired level.

"My primary desire was regular playing opportunities and when you are at a team like Liverpool, it's not guaranteed because there are elite performers all over the pitch. I wanted somewhere where they can have confidence that I might make mistakes at certain moments but they will see beyond that and recognize I can keep pushing and improving."

Foundation Building

Quansah remembers his loan to the lower division club in the second-half of 2022-23 where he debuted at professional level – 16 of them, to be precise. There were "multiple reality checks", he notes with a grin, beginning with his debut; a 5-1 defeat at their opponents.

"That was a genuine revelation," Quansah says. "It proved a really valuable chapter in my development because I aimed to take the subsequent progression to regular senior competition. Each match I gained fresh insights. That's when I knew how valuable experience and match practice was. You could say it informed my decision in the summer."