Bayer Leverkusen's Jarell Quansah Keeps Calm and Continues Onward in His Steady Rise to Stardom

"To an observer, it seems insane," Jarell Quansah says, as he looks back on his recent summer, when dizzying change felt like a constant. "But it is one of them ... football is a unpredictable game."

A Brief Summary

Shortly after winning the U21 European Championship with the English national team at the end of June, Quansah opted to depart from Liverpool, to go to the Bundesliga side in a multi-million pound transfer.

The significant transfer sum equalled high expectations as the 22-year-old was tasked with settling in in a new country and at a team where the churn was dramatic. Erik ten Hag had taken over to replace Xabi Alonso and a host of key players were departing or already left – including Florian Wirtz, Piero Hincapié, Jeremie Frimpong, prominent athletes, Granit Xhaka, Lukas Hradecky and team leaders.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on 23 August at their home ground to Hoffenheim and the central defender found the net after five minutes, though the achievement was undercut by tragedy. His primary thought was Diogo Jota, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah performed Jota's gamer celebration as a mark of respect.

"Scoring on your first Bundesliga match, at home, after five minutes, is certainly a rollercoaster," Quansah says. "However, my dominant emotion was that it was a homage to Diogo."

Early Challenges

The defender could have been forgiven for wondering what he had committed to at Leverkusen. After the encouraging beginning in their opening league fixture, they fell to a 2-1 defeat and the next match on August 30th was equally disappointing. The squad squandered 2-0 and 3-1 leads to finish level at 10-man Werder Bremen, the equaliser coming in added time. It was not Ten Hag's team for much longer. He was sacked on 1 September.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah doesn't appear to be the kind to worry. If composure defines his game, it was on show during the conversation he gave after being selected for the national team for the international friendly against Wales and the qualifying match against Latvia.

Quansah has kept his head down under the new Leverkusen manager, Kasper Hjulmand, and persisted in doing what he originally planned to do at the team – compete. The new manager has brought stability. His squad have positive results in four league matches along with draws in each of their European matches. But there is a more significant number that encourages Quansah, even bringing a measure of vindication. It is the one which shows he has been ever-present of the club's campaign.

National Team Attention

It is something that Thomas Tuchel has noted. The national team manager was a admirer previously, including him when he named his first squad. After omitting him in June so that Quansah could focus on the youth tournament, he gave him a late call-up in the autumn when the experienced defender was compelled to pull out.

Still to win his international debut, Quansah must have done something right in training and around the camp because he was selected at the outset in Tuchel's squad selection for the upcoming matches, effectively as a additional defensive option with the regular starter returning. The dream is a first appearance. It is one more milestone he would certainly handle with ease.

Career Choices

"At Leverkusen, the club were interested in me for a while and that's not only from the manager [Ten Hag]," Quansah explains. "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 easy for me to make that decision.

"There were a numerous squad members departing and it's always tough when you lose key players. It has been tough to build the leadership groups but the outcomes we have had recently demonstrate that we have got a good squad with talented individuals. It is going to take time to develop and we are still progressing. But if we are getting results and avoiding defeats that is a good place to start."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a wrench for Quansah to leave Liverpool, his club from the age of five, where he enjoyed so many memorable moments – such as the Carabao Cup final victory over Chelsea in the previous season when he came on as an late replacement.

Quansah was also a part of last season's domestic championship success. Yet his perspective of much of that was not the perspective he would have preferred. He was an non-playing reserve on 25 occasions in the league, his four starts and nine appearances falling short compared to his statistics from 2023‑24 when he started nine games.

Career Development

"I've always learned off top-level professionals around me at my former club 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 extensive playing time to be where I want to be.

"My primary desire was regular playing opportunities and when you are at a team like Liverpool, it's not promised because there are elite performers all over the pitch. I wanted an environment where they can trust that I might make mistakes at times but they will see beyond that and see I can continue developing and improving."

Foundation Building

Quansah recalls his temporary transfer to League One Bristol Rovers in the second-half of 2022-23 where he debuted at professional level – multiple matches, to be exact. There were "numerous wake-up calls", he notes with a grin, starting with his debut; a 5-1 defeat at Morecambe.

"That represented a genuine revelation," Quansah says. "It proved a really valuable chapter in my development because I aimed to take the subsequent progression to playing first-team football. Each match I learned something new. That's when I understood how crucial experience and playing games was. You could say it informed my choice in the summer."