🔗 Share this article

"From the outside, it seems insane," the young defender says, 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 Brief Summary

Shortly after winning the European Under-21 Championship with England at the conclusion of June, Quansah decided to leave Liverpool, to go to Bayer Leverkusen in a multi-million pound transfer.

The big fee brought big pressure as the young defender was tasked with settling in in a foreign land and at a club where the churn was dramatic. The new manager had taken over to succeed the previous coach and a host of star performers were gone or going – chief among them several high-profile names, Piero Hincapié, influential figures, Amine Adli, experienced professionals, Lukas Hradecky and Jonathan Tah.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's first league appearance came on 23 August at home to their opponents and the centre-half found the net after five minutes, albeit the achievement was undercut by sadness. All he could think about was Diogo Jota, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah performed his teammate's signature celebration as a tribute.

"Scoring on your first Bundesliga match, at home, after the opening moments, is certainly a whirlwind," Quansah states. "However, my dominant emotion 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. After the encouraging beginning in their first league game, they fell to a narrow loss and the next match on August 30th was just as bad. Ten Hag's team squandered 2-0 and 3-1 leads to draw 3-3 at their reduced opponents, the tying goal coming in stoppage time. It was no longer his responsibility for much longer. His dismissal came on September 1st.

Staying Focused

Quansah does not come across as the type to fret. If calmness defines his game, it was on show during the interview he gave after being selected for England for the international friendly against their rivals and the qualifying match against their next opponents.

Quansah has kept his head down under the new Leverkusen manager, Kasper Hjulmand, and continued to do what he always intended to do at the club – compete. Hjulmand has established consistency. His squad have positive results in their domestic campaign along with ties in each of their European matches. But there is a broader statistic that encourages Quansah, even bringing a measure of vindication. 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 England head coach was a admirer previously, selecting Quansah when he named his first squad. After leaving him out in June so that Quansah could concentrate on the youth tournament, he gave him a last-minute inclusion in September when John Stones was compelled to pull out.

Yet to earn his international debut, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in practice sessions and around the camp because he was named at the beginning in Tuchel's 24‑man group for the upcoming matches, essentially as a additional defensive option with the regular starter returning. The aspiration is a first appearance. It is another thing he would surely take in his stride.

Career Choices

"With my new club, the club were keen on signing me for a while and that's not only from the manager [Ten Hag]," Quansah explains. "They were interested before he got appointed. So knowing it was a type of organizational choice and things would remain consistent with whatever coach was to come in ... it was straightforward for me to choose this path.

"We had 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 outcomes we have had [under Hjulmand] show that we have developed a good squad with quality players. It is requiring patience to build and we are still progressing. But if we are achieving positive outcomes 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 memorable moments – such as the league cup triumph over Chelsea in 2023‑24 when he was introduced as an late replacement.

Quansah was also a part of last season's domestic championship success. Yet his perspective of most of that achievement was not the one he would have chosen. He was an unused substitute on 25 occasions in the competition, his limited playing time falling short compared to his numbers from 2023‑24 when he started nine games.

Career Development

"I consistently developed off top-level professionals around me at my former club and it's been so good for my professional development," he comments. "However, for a developing defender, you require match experience and I'm going to be needing hundreds of games to be at my desired level.

"My primary desire was regular playing opportunities and when you are at a team like Liverpool, it's not promised because there are world-class players all over the pitch. I wanted somewhere where they can have confidence that I might make mistakes at certain moments but they will see beyond that and see I can keep pushing and improving."

Early Experience

Quansah recalls 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 exact. There were "multiple reality checks", he says with a grin, starting with his debut; a heavy loss at Morecambe.

"That represented a true eye-opener," Quansah reflects. "It was 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 when I knew how crucial practical knowledge and match practice was. You could say it informed my choice in the off-season."