Leverkusen's Jarell Quansah Keeps Calm and Carries On in His Gradual Ascent to Football Fame

"To an observer, it appears insane," the young defender says, as he looks back on his summer just gone, when dizzying change felt like a constant. "However, that's just how it goes ... football is a crazy game."

A Quick Recap

Shortly after claiming victory in the U21 European Championship with the English national team at the end of June, Quansah opted to depart from his childhood club, to go to the Bundesliga side in a £30m deal.

The significant transfer sum equalled high expectations as the young defender was tasked with finding his feet in a new country and at a team where the turnover was substantial. Erik ten Hag had taken over to replace Xabi Alonso and a number of star performers were gone or going – including Florian Wirtz, Piero Hincapié, Jeremie Frimpong, Amine Adli, Granit Xhaka, established players and Jonathan Tah.

League Introduction

Quansah's first league appearance came on 23 August at home to Hoffenheim and the central defender found the net after five minutes, albeit the goal was undercut by sadness. All he could think about was Diogo Jota, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah executed his teammate's signature celebration as a mark of respect.

"To have a goal on your first Bundesliga match, in front of home fans, after five minutes, is certainly a rollercoaster," Quansah states. "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 signed up for at Leverkusen. From the promising start in their opening league fixture, they succumbed to a 2-1 defeat and the following game on 30 August was just as bad. The squad squandered comfortable advantages to finish level at their reduced opponents, the equaliser coming in stoppage time. It was not Ten Hag's team for very long. He was sacked on 1 September.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah does not come across as the type to fret. If calmness defines his game, it was on show during the conversation he gave after being selected for England for the Wembley friendly against Wales and the World Cup qualifier against Latvia.

Quansah has remained focused under the current coach, the Danish tactician, and persisted in doing what he originally planned to do at the club – compete. Hjulmand has established consistency. His squad have positive results in their domestic campaign along with draws in each of their Champions League ties. But there is a more significant number that encourages Quansah, even bringing a sense of justification. It is the fact that demonstrates he has been ever-present of the club's campaign.

National Team Attention

It is something that the England head coach has noted. The national team manager was a admirer previously, selecting Quansah when he announced his initial selection. After leaving him out in June 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.

Still to win his international debut, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in training and around the camp because he was named at the outset in Tuchel's 24‑man group for the upcoming matches, essentially as a fifth centre-back with the regular starter returning. The dream is a debut. It is another thing he would certainly take in his stride.

Career Choices

"At Leverkusen, the club were interested in me for a considerable time and that's not just from the manager [Ten Hag]," Quansah says. "They were interested prior to his arrival. So understanding it was a type of organizational choice and nothing would change with which manager was to come in ... it was straightforward for me to make that decision.

"There were a lot of players leaving and it's consistently challenging when you lose key players. It has been tough to establish new hierarchies but the outcomes we have had [under Hjulmand] show that we have got a competitive team with quality players. It is requiring patience to develop and we are still progressing. But if we are getting results and avoiding defeats that is a good place to begin from."

Leaving Childhood Club

It had to have been a difficult separation for Quansah to leave his long-time club, his team since childhood, 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 the previous campaign's Premier League title triumph. Yet his view of much of that was not the perspective he would have preferred. He was an unused substitute on 25 occasions in the competition, 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. "But as a young centre-back, you need games and I'm going to be needing extensive playing time to be at my desired level.

"I just wanted game time 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 look under that and see I can continue developing and improving."

Foundation Building

Quansah remembers his temporary transfer to the lower division club in the second-half of 2022-23 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 debut; a 5-1 defeat at Morecambe.

"That was a genuine revelation," 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 learned something new. That's where I knew how crucial experience and playing games was. You could say it informed my decision in the summer."