🔗 Share this article

"To an observer, it seems crazy," the young defender says, as he reflects on his summer just gone, when rapid transformation felt like a constant. "However, that's just how it goes ... football is a unpredictable game."

A Brief Summary

Days after winning the U21 European Championship with England at the end of June, Quansah decided to leave Liverpool, to join Bayer Leverkusen in a multi-million pound transfer.

The big fee brought big pressure as the young defender was charged with finding his feet in a new country and at a club where the turnover was dramatic. The new manager had taken over to replace Xabi Alonso and a host of key players were gone or going – including Florian Wirtz, Piero Hincapié, influential figures, Amine Adli, Granit Xhaka, established players and Jonathan Tah.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on August 23rd at home to their opponents and the centre-half found the net after five minutes, though the achievement was undercut by tragedy. All he could think about was his former Liverpool teammate, who was tragically lost in a road incident. Quansah performed Jota's gamer celebration as a tribute.

"To have a goal on your first Bundesliga match, in front of home fans, after five minutes, is definitely a rollercoaster," Quansah states. "But my overwhelming feeling was that it was a homage to Diogo."

Initial Struggles

The player 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 succumbed to a narrow loss and the following game on 30 August was equally disappointing. The squad squandered 2-0 and 3-1 leads to finish level at their reduced opponents, the tying goal coming in added time. It was not Ten Hag's team for very long. His dismissal came on 1 September.

Staying Focused

Quansah does not come across as the type to fret. If composure characterizes his playing style, it was on show during the conversation he participated in after being selected for the national team for the international friendly against their rivals and the qualifying match against their next opponents.

Quansah has remained focused under the current coach, Kasper Hjulmand, and persisted in doing what he always intended to do at the team – compete. Hjulmand has brought stability. 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 fact that demonstrates he has played every minute of the club's campaign.

International Recognition

It is something that Thomas Tuchel has observed. The England head coach was a admirer previously, selecting Quansah when he announced his initial selection. After omitting him in June so that Quansah could focus on the youth tournament, he provided him with a last-minute inclusion in September when the experienced defender was forced to withdraw.

Yet to earn his first cap, Quansah must have done something right in training and within the squad environment because he was named at the beginning in Tuchel's squad selection for the upcoming matches, essentially as a fifth centre-back with the regular starter returning. The dream is a debut. 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 only from the coach," Quansah says. "They were interested prior to his arrival. So knowing it was a sort of internal decision and nothing would change with which manager was to come in ... it was straightforward for me to choose this path.

"We had a numerous squad members departing and it's consistently challenging when you lose key players. It has been difficult to build the leadership groups but the outcomes we have had recently demonstrate that we have got a good squad with quality players. It is requiring patience to build 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 difficult separation for Quansah to leave Liverpool, his team since childhood, where he experienced so many memorable moments – such as the league cup triumph over Chelsea in the previous season when he was introduced as an extra-time substitute.

Quansah was also a part of the previous campaign's Premier League title triumph. Yet his perspective 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 comparing unfavourably with his statistics from the prior season when he featured more regularly.

Career Development

"I've always learned off some of the best players around me at my former club and it's been incredibly beneficial for my career," he says. "However, for a developing defender, you need games and I'm will require hundreds of games to be where I want to be.

"My primary desire was regular playing opportunities and when you are at a top-level club, it's not guaranteed because there are elite performers all over the pitch. I wanted somewhere where they can have confidence that I could errors at times but they will see beyond that and see I can continue developing and pushing."

Early Experience

Quansah remembers his temporary transfer to the lower division club in the later part of that season where he debuted at professional level – multiple matches, to be precise. There were "multiple reality checks", he notes with a grin, starting with his first game; a heavy loss at their opponents.

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