Bayer Leverkusen's Jarell Quansah Remains Composed and Continues Onward in His Steady Rise to Football Fame

"From the outside, it appears insane," Jarell Quansah remarks, as he reflects on his recent summer, when rapid transformation felt like a constant. "But it is one of them ... football is a unpredictable game."

A Brief Summary

Shortly after winning the European Under-21 Championship with England at the conclusion of June, Quansah opted to depart from his childhood club, to join the Bundesliga side in a £30m deal.

The big fee brought big pressure as the young defender was tasked with finding his feet in a new country and at a team where the turnover was substantial. The new manager had stepped in to replace Xabi Alonso and a number of key players were departing or already left – chief among them several high-profile names, key squad members, influential figures, prominent athletes, Granit Xhaka, Lukas Hradecky and team leaders.

League Introduction

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on 23 August at home to Hoffenheim and the central defender scored after five minutes, albeit the goal was overshadowed by sadness. All he could think about was his former Liverpool teammate, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah executed his teammate's signature celebration as a mark of respect.

"Scoring on your Bundesliga debut, in front of home fans, after five minutes, is definitely a whirlwind," Quansah states. "However, my dominant emotion was that it was a homage to Diogo."

Initial Struggles

The defender could have been forgiven for wondering what he had signed up for at Leverkusen. From the promising start in their first league game, they fell to a narrow loss and the next match on August 30th was equally disappointing. The squad squandered 2-0 and 3-1 leads to draw 3-3 at 10-man Werder Bremen, the equaliser coming in stoppage time. It was no longer his responsibility for much longer. His dismissal came on 1 September.

Staying Focused

Quansah does not come across as the kind to worry. If composure characterizes his playing style, it was evident during the conversation he participated in after joining the national team for the international friendly against their rivals and the World Cup qualifier against Latvia.

Quansah has remained focused under the current coach, Kasper Hjulmand, and continued to do what he originally planned to do at the club – compete. Hjulmand has established consistency. His squad have three wins and one draw in their domestic campaign along with draws 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 been ever-present of the team's season.

International Recognition

It is something that Thomas Tuchel has noted. The national team manager was a fan last season, including him when he announced his initial selection. After omitting him in June so that Quansah could focus on the youth tournament, he gave him a last-minute inclusion in September when the experienced defender was forced to withdraw.

Yet to earn his international debut, Quansah must have done something right in practice sessions 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 Stones fit again. The aspiration is a debut. It is one more milestone he would certainly handle with ease.

Decision Making

"With my new club, the team were interested in me for a while and that's not only from the coach," Quansah explains. "Their interest existed prior to his arrival. So understanding it was a type of internal decision and nothing would change with whatever coach was to take over ... it was straightforward for me to make that decision.

"We had a numerous squad members leaving and it's consistently challenging when you see important figures leave. It has been tough to establish new hierarchies but the outcomes we have had [under Hjulmand] demonstrate that we have got a good squad with talented individuals. It is requiring patience to develop and we are still progressing. But if we are getting results and avoiding defeats that is a solid foundation to begin from."

Leaving Childhood Club

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 league cup triumph over Chelsea in 2023‑24 when he came on as an extra-time substitute.

Quansah was also involved in the previous campaign's Premier League title triumph. Yet his perspective of much of that was not the one he would have chosen. He was an non-playing reserve on 25 occasions in the league, his limited playing time comparing unfavourably with his statistics from the prior season when he featured more regularly.

Professional Growth

"I've always learned off some of the best players around me at Liverpool 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 at my desired level.

"My primary desire was game time and when you are at a team like Liverpool, it's not guaranteed because there are elite performers all over the pitch. I wanted an environment where they can have confidence that I might make mistakes at times but they will look under that and recognize I can continue developing and pushing."

Foundation Building

Quansah remembers 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 notes with a smile, starting with his debut; a 5-1 defeat at their opponents.

"That represented a genuine revelation," Quansah says. "It proved a really valuable chapter in my development because I aimed to take the next step to playing first-team football. Each match I gained fresh insights. That's where I understood how crucial experience and match practice was. You could say it informed my choice in the off-season."