🔗 Share this article

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

A Quick Recap

Shortly after claiming victory in the European Under-21 Championship with England at the end of June, Quansah opted to depart from his childhood club, to join the Bundesliga side in a multi-million pound transfer.

The significant transfer sum brought big pressure as the young defender was charged with finding his feet in a foreign land and at a club where the turnover was substantial. Erik ten Hag had stepped in to replace Xabi Alonso and a number of star performers were gone or going – chief among them Florian Wirtz, Piero Hincapié, influential figures, prominent athletes, experienced professionals, Lukas Hradecky and Jonathan Tah.

League Introduction

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on August 23rd at home to their opponents and the central defender found the net after five minutes, though the achievement was overshadowed 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.

"Scoring on your Bundesliga debut, at home, after the opening moments, is definitely a rollercoaster," Quansah says. "However, my dominant emotion was that it was a homage to Diogo."

Initial Struggles

The defender could have been excused for questioning what he had signed up for at Leverkusen. After the encouraging beginning in their first league game, they succumbed to a narrow loss and the following game on August 30th was just as bad. Ten Hag's team threw away 2-0 and 3-1 leads to draw 3-3 at 10-man Werder Bremen, the tying goal coming in stoppage time. It was not Ten Hag's team for very long. His dismissal came on September 1st.

Staying Focused

Quansah does not come across as the kind to worry. If composure characterizes his playing style, it was on show during the interview he participated in after joining England for the international friendly against Wales and the World Cup qualifier against Latvia.

Quansah has remained focused under the current coach, Kasper Hjulmand, and persisted in doing what he originally planned to do at the team – play. Hjulmand has established consistency. His squad 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 sense of justification. 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 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 focus on the youth tournament, he gave him a last-minute inclusion in September when the experienced defender was forced to withdraw.

Yet to earn his international debut, Quansah must have done something right in training and within the squad environment because he was named at the beginning in the manager's squad selection for Wales and Latvia, effectively as a fifth centre-back with Stones fit again. The aspiration is a first appearance. 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 says. "They were interested before he got appointed. So understanding it was a sort of internal decision and things would remain consistent with whatever coach was to come in ... it was straightforward for me to choose this path.

"There were a numerous squad members leaving and it's always tough when you see important figures leave. It has been difficult to build the leadership groups but the results we have had recently demonstrate that we have developed a competitive team with talented individuals. It is requiring patience to develop and we are still progressing. But if we are achieving positive outcomes and not losing that is a solid foundation to begin from."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a difficult separation for Quansah to leave his long-time club, his team since childhood, where he experienced so many memorable moments – such as the league cup triumph over their London rivals in 2023‑24 when he was introduced as an extra-time substitute.

Quansah was also involved in the previous campaign's Premier League title triumph. Yet his perspective of much of that was not the one he would have chosen. He was an non-playing reserve on 25 occasions in the competition, his four starts and nine appearances falling short compared to his numbers from the prior season when he started nine games.

Career Development

"I've always learned 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 going to be needing hundreds of games to be where I want to be.

"My primary desire was game time and when you are at a top-level club, it's not promised because there are elite performers throughout the squad. I wanted somewhere where they can have confidence that I could errors at certain moments but they will see beyond that and recognize I can keep pushing and pushing."

Early Experience

Quansah recalls his temporary transfer to League One Bristol Rovers in the later part of that season where he made his first senior appearances – 16 of them, to be exact. There were "multiple reality checks", he notes with a smile, beginning with his debut; a heavy loss at their opponents.

"That represented a true eye-opener," Quansah reflects. "It was a really valuable part of my career because I aimed to take the subsequent progression to playing first-team football. Every game I gained fresh insights. That's when I understood how crucial experience and playing games was. You could suggest it influenced my decision in the off-season."