🔗 Share this article

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

A Quick Recap

Days after winning the U21 European Championship with the English national team at the end of June, Quansah decided to leave his childhood club, to go to Bayer Leverkusen in a £30m deal.

The big fee equalled big pressure as the young defender was tasked with finding his feet in a foreign land and at a team where the turnover was substantial. The new manager had stepped in to replace the previous coach and a host of key players were departing or already left – including several high-profile names, Piero Hincapié, Jeremie Frimpong, Amine Adli, experienced professionals, Lukas Hradecky and Jonathan Tah.

Bundesliga Debut

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

"To have a goal on your first Bundesliga match, at home, 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 Leverkusen. From the promising start in their opening league fixture, they fell to a 2-1 defeat and the following game on 30 August was equally disappointing. Ten Hag's team squandered comfortable advantages to draw 3-3 at their reduced opponents, 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 doesn't appear to be the type to fret. If composure characterizes his playing style, it was evident during the interview he gave after joining England for the Wembley friendly against their rivals and the World Cup qualifier against their next opponents.

Quansah has kept his head down under the current coach, the Danish tactician, and persisted in doing what he always intended to do at the club – compete. Hjulmand has brought stability. His team have three wins and one draw in four league matches along with draws in each of their European matches. But there is a broader statistic 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.

International Recognition

It is one that Thomas Tuchel has noted. The national team manager was a admirer previously, including him when he announced his initial selection. After omitting him in the summer so that Quansah could focus on the Under-21 European Championship, he provided him with a last-minute inclusion in September when John Stones was compelled to pull out.

Still to win his international debut, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in training and around the camp because he was selected at the beginning in the manager's squad selection for the upcoming matches, essentially as a additional defensive option with Stones fit again. The aspiration is a first appearance. It is one more milestone he would certainly take in his stride.

Career Choices

"At Leverkusen, the team were keen on signing me for a considerable time and that's not just from the manager [Ten Hag]," Quansah explains. "They were interested before he got appointed. So understanding it was a type of internal decision and things would remain consistent with which manager was to come in ... it was straightforward for me to make that decision.

"We had a numerous squad members 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 recently show 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 getting results and not losing that is a solid foundation to start."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a wrench for Quansah to leave his long-time club, his club from the age of five, where he experienced so many significant occasions – such as the league cup triumph over Chelsea in 2023‑24 when he came on as an late replacement.

Quansah was also involved in last season's Premier League title triumph. 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 league, his four starts and nine appearances falling short compared to his statistics from 2023‑24 when he featured more regularly.

Career Development

"I consistently developed off some of the best players around me at Liverpool and it's been so good for my career," he comments. "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.

"I just wanted regular playing opportunities and when you are at a team like Liverpool, it's not promised because there are elite performers throughout the squad. I wanted somewhere where they can trust that I could errors at certain moments but they will look under that and see I can keep pushing and pushing."

Foundation Building

Quansah remembers his loan to League One Bristol Rovers in the later part of that season where he made his first senior appearances – 16 of them, to be precise. There were "multiple reality checks", he notes with a grin, starting with his debut; a heavy loss at Morecambe.

"That was a genuine revelation," Quansah reflects. "It proved a really valuable chapter in my development because I wanted to make the next step to playing first-team football. Every game I learned something new. That's when I knew how crucial practical knowledge and match practice was. You could suggest it influenced my decision in the summer."