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"To an observer, it seems crazy," the young defender remarks, as he reflects on his recent summer, when dizzying change felt like a constant. "But it is one of them ... football is a unpredictable game."

A Brief Summary

Shortly after winning the European Under-21 Championship with the English national team at the end of June, Quansah opted to depart from Liverpool, to go to the Bundesliga side in a multi-million pound transfer.

The big fee brought big pressure as the young defender was charged with settling in in a foreign land and at a team where the turnover was dramatic. Erik ten Hag had stepped in to replace Xabi Alonso and a number of key players were gone or going – including Florian Wirtz, Piero Hincapié, influential figures, Amine Adli, experienced professionals, Lukas Hradecky and team leaders.

League Introduction

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

"Scoring on your first Bundesliga match, in front of home fans, after the opening moments, is definitely a rollercoaster," Quansah says. "But my overwhelming feeling was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Early Challenges

The defender could have been forgiven for wondering what he had committed to at the German club. From the promising start in their opening league fixture, they succumbed to a 2-1 defeat and the following game on August 30th was equally disappointing. 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 September 1st.

Maintaining Composure

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 joining the national team for the Wembley friendly against their rivals and the qualifying match against Latvia.

Quansah has remained focused under the new Leverkusen manager, Kasper Hjulmand, and persisted in doing what he originally planned to do at the club – compete. The new manager has brought stability. His team have positive results in four league matches 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 fact that demonstrates he has been ever-present of the club's campaign.

National Team Attention

It is one that the England head coach 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 late call-up in the autumn when John Stones was forced to withdraw.

Yet to earn his first cap, Quansah must have done something right in training and within the squad environment because he was selected at the outset in the manager's 24‑man group for Wales and Latvia, essentially as a additional defensive option with the regular starter returning. The aspiration is a first appearance. It is one more milestone he would certainly take in his stride.

Career Choices

"At Leverkusen, the club were interested in me for a considerable time and that's not only from the manager [Ten Hag]," Quansah explains. "Their interest existed prior to his arrival. So knowing it was a sort of organizational choice and things would remain consistent with which manager was to take over ... it was easy for me to make that decision.

"We had a numerous squad members leaving 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 [under Hjulmand] demonstrate that we have developed a good squad with quality players. It is going to take time to develop and we are still progressing. But if we are getting results and avoiding defeats that is a solid foundation to start."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a wrench for Quansah to depart from Liverpool, his club from the age of five, where he experienced so many memorable moments – such as the Carabao Cup final victory over Chelsea in 2023‑24 when he was introduced as an extra-time substitute.

Quansah was also a part of last season's domestic championship success. Yet his view of much of that was not the one he would have preferred. He was an non-playing reserve on multiple matches in the league, his four starts and nine appearances falling short compared to his numbers from the prior season 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 says. "However, for a developing defender, you need games and I'm will require hundreds of games to be where I want to be.

"My primary desire was regular playing opportunities and when you are at a top-level club, it's not promised 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 look under that and see I can keep pushing and improving."

Foundation Building

Quansah remembers his temporary transfer to League One Bristol Rovers in the second-half of 2022-23 where he made his first senior appearances – 16 of them, to be precise. There were "numerous wake-up calls", he says with a grin, beginning with his debut; a heavy loss at Morecambe.

"That represented a genuine revelation," Quansah says. "It proved a extremely important chapter in my development because I wanted to make the next step to playing first-team football. Each match I gained fresh insights. That's where I understood how valuable experience and match practice was. You could suggest it influenced my choice in the off-season."