🔗 Share this article

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

A Quick Recap

Shortly after claiming victory in the U21 European Championship with England at the end of June, Quansah opted to depart from Liverpool, to join Bayer Leverkusen in a £30m deal.

The significant transfer sum brought high expectations as the young defender was tasked with finding his feet in a foreign land and at a team where the churn was substantial. The new manager had stepped in to replace Xabi Alonso and a host of star performers were gone or going – chief among them Florian Wirtz, Piero Hincapié, influential figures, prominent athletes, Granit Xhaka, established players and Jonathan Tah.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on 23 August at their home ground to Hoffenheim and the central defender found the net after the opening minutes, though the goal was overshadowed by tragedy. His primary thought was Diogo Jota, who was tragically lost in a road incident. Quansah performed Jota's gamer celebration as a tribute.

"Scoring on your first Bundesliga match, at home, after the opening moments, is certainly a whirlwind," Quansah states. "But my overwhelming feeling was that it was a homage to Diogo."

Early Challenges

The defender could have been excused for questioning what he had signed up for at the German club. After the encouraging beginning 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 2-0 and 3-1 leads to draw 3-3 at their reduced opponents, the equaliser coming in added time. It was no longer his responsibility for much longer. His dismissal came on September 1st.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah doesn't appear to be the kind to worry. If composure defines his game, it was evident during the conversation he participated in after joining the national team for the international friendly against Wales and the World Cup qualifier against Latvia.

Quansah has kept his head down under the current coach, Kasper Hjulmand, and persisted in doing 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 ties in each of their European matches. But there is a more significant number that encourages Quansah, even bringing a sense of justification. It is the one which shows he has been ever-present of the club's campaign.

National Team Attention

It is one that the England head coach has observed. The England head coach was a fan last season, selecting Quansah when he named his first squad. After leaving him out in the summer so that Quansah could concentrate on the Under-21 European Championship, he provided him with a late call-up in September when John Stones was forced to withdraw.

Yet to earn his first cap, Quansah must have done something right in practice sessions and within the squad environment because he was selected 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 another thing he would certainly handle with ease.

Decision Making

"At Leverkusen, the club were keen on signing me for a while and that's not just from the coach," Quansah says. "They were interested prior to his arrival. So understanding it was a sort of organizational choice and nothing would change with whatever coach was to come in ... it was straightforward for me to make that decision.

"There were a numerous squad members leaving and it's consistently challenging when you see important figures leave. It has been difficult to establish new hierarchies but the outcomes we have had recently demonstrate that we have got a good squad with quality players. It is requiring patience to develop and we are still progressing. But if we are getting results and not losing that is a good place to begin from."

Leaving Childhood Club

It had to have been a wrench for Quansah to depart from his long-time club, his club from the age of five, where he experienced so many significant occasions – such as the Carabao Cup final victory over Chelsea in the previous season when he came on as an late replacement.

Quansah was also involved in last season's domestic championship success. Yet his perspective of most of that achievement was not the one he would have preferred. He was an unused substitute on multiple matches in the competition, his limited playing time comparing unfavourably with his statistics from 2023‑24 when he featured more regularly.

Career Development

"I've always learned off top-level professionals around me at my former club and it's been incredibly beneficial for my career," he says. "But as a young centre-back, you require match experience and I'm will require hundreds of games to be where I want to be.

"I just wanted game time and when you are at a top-level club, it's not promised because there are world-class players all over the pitch. I wanted somewhere where they can trust that I might make mistakes at certain moments but they will look under that and see I can continue developing and improving."

Foundation Building

Quansah remembers his loan to the lower division club in the later part of that season where he made his first senior appearances – 16 of them, to be precise. There were "numerous wake-up calls", he notes with a smile, starting with his debut; a heavy loss at their opponents.

"That represented a true eye-opener," Quansah reflects. "It was 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 where I knew how crucial experience and match practice was. You could say it informed my choice in the summer."