Bayer Leverkusen's Jarell Quansah Keeps Calm and Continues Onward in His Gradual Ascent to Football Fame

"To an observer, it appears insane," the young defender remarks, as he reflects on his recent summer, when dizzying change felt like a constant. "However, that's just how it goes ... football is a unpredictable game."

A Quick Recap

Shortly after winning the U21 European Championship with the English national team at the end of June, Quansah decided to leave Liverpool, to go to the Bundesliga side in a £30m deal.

The big fee equalled big pressure as the young defender was charged with settling in in a new country and at a team where the turnover was dramatic. Erik ten Hag had stepped in to replace Xabi Alonso and a host of star performers were gone or going – chief among them Florian Wirtz, key squad members, influential figures, Amine Adli, experienced professionals, Lukas Hradecky and Jonathan Tah.

League Introduction

Quansah's first league appearance came on 23 August at home to Hoffenheim and the centre-half found the net after five minutes, though the goal was undercut by sadness. His primary thought was his former Liverpool teammate, who was tragically lost in a road incident. Quansah performed his teammate's signature celebration as a tribute.

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

Early Challenges

The defender could have been excused for questioning what he had committed to at the German club. From the promising start 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 squandered 2-0 and 3-1 leads to draw 3-3 at 10-man Werder Bremen, the equaliser coming in added time. It was no longer his responsibility for very long. He was sacked on September 1st.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah does not come across as 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 their rivals and the qualifying match against their next opponents.

Quansah has remained focused under the new Leverkusen manager, Kasper Hjulmand, and persisted in doing what he originally planned to do at the club – play. Hjulmand has established consistency. His team have three wins and one draw in their domestic campaign along with draws in each of their European matches. But there is a broader statistic that motivates the player, 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 noted. The England head coach was a admirer previously, 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 gave him a late call-up in the autumn when the experienced defender was forced to withdraw.

Yet to earn his international debut, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in training and around the camp because he was named at the outset in the manager's squad selection for the upcoming matches, essentially as a fifth centre-back with Stones fit again. The dream is a debut. It is one more milestone he would surely handle with ease.

Decision Making

"With my new club, the team were keen on signing me for a while and that's not only from the manager [Ten Hag]," Quansah says. "Their interest existed before he got appointed. So knowing 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 lot of players leaving and it's always tough when you see important figures leave. It has been tough to build the leadership groups but the outcomes we have had [under Hjulmand] demonstrate that we have got a good squad with quality players. It is going to take time 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 wrench for Quansah to depart from his long-time club, 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 was introduced as an extra-time substitute.

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

Professional Growth

"I've always learned off top-level professionals around me at my former club and it's been incredibly beneficial for my professional development," he comments. "However, for a developing defender, you need games and I'm will require hundreds of games to be at my desired level.

"I just wanted 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 an environment where they can trust that I could errors at certain moments but they will see beyond that and see 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 – multiple matches, to be precise. There were "numerous wake-up calls", he says with a grin, beginning with his first game; a 5-1 defeat at their opponents.

"That was a genuine revelation," Quansah says. "It was a extremely important chapter in my development because I wanted to make the subsequent progression to regular senior competition. Every game I gained fresh insights. That's where I knew how valuable experience and playing games was. You could suggest it influenced my choice in the off-season."