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"To an observer, it seems insane," the young defender remarks, as he looks back 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 Quick Recap

Days after winning the European Under-21 Championship with the English national team at the conclusion of June, Quansah decided to leave Liverpool, to join the Bundesliga side in a £30m deal.

The significant transfer sum brought big pressure as the 22-year-old was tasked with settling in in a foreign land and at a club where the turnover was substantial. Erik ten Hag had taken over to succeed Xabi Alonso and a host of star performers were departing or already left – chief among them several high-profile names, key squad members, Jeremie Frimpong, prominent athletes, experienced professionals, established players and Jonathan Tah.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on August 23rd at home to Hoffenheim and the centre-half found the net after five minutes, albeit the goal was overshadowed by tragedy. 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, at home, after the opening moments, is certainly a whirlwind," Quansah states. "But my overwhelming feeling was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Initial Struggles

The player 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 next match on August 30th was equally disappointing. The squad threw away 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 very long. He was sacked on 1 September.

Staying Focused

Quansah does not come across as the type to fret. If composure defines his game, it was evident during the interview he participated in 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 current coach, Kasper Hjulmand, and persisted in doing what he always intended to do at the team – play. The new manager has established consistency. His squad have three wins and one draw in their domestic campaign along with ties in each of their Champions League ties. But there is a broader statistic that encourages Quansah, even bringing a sense of justification. It is the one which shows he has played every minute of the team's season.

International Recognition

It is one that the England head coach has observed. The England head coach was a fan previously, including him when he named his first squad. After leaving him out in the summer so that Quansah could concentrate on the youth tournament, he provided him with a last-minute inclusion in the autumn when John Stones was compelled to pull out.

Yet to earn his international debut, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in training and within the squad environment because he was selected at the beginning in the manager's 24‑man group for the upcoming matches, effectively as a fifth centre-back with Stones fit again. The aspiration is a debut. It is one more milestone he would surely take in his stride.

Career Choices

"At Leverkusen, the team were interested in me for a while and that's not just from the manager [Ten Hag]," Quansah explains. "Their interest existed prior to his arrival. So knowing it was a type of internal decision and things would remain consistent with whatever coach was to take over ... it was easy 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 difficult to build the leadership groups but the results we have had [under Hjulmand] show that we have developed a competitive team 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 solid foundation to begin from."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a wrench for Quansah to depart from his long-time club, his team since childhood, where he experienced 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 last season's domestic championship success. Yet his perspective of much of that was not the perspective he would have chosen. He was an non-playing reserve on multiple matches in the league, his four starts and nine appearances comparing unfavourably with his numbers from the prior season when he featured more regularly.

Professional Growth

"I consistently developed 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 regular playing opportunities and when you are at a top-level club, it's not guaranteed because there are world-class players all over the pitch. I wanted an environment where they can trust that I might make mistakes at certain moments but they will look under that and see I can continue developing and pushing."

Foundation Building

Quansah remembers his temporary transfer to League One Bristol Rovers in the second-half of 2022-23 where he debuted at professional level – 16 of them, to be precise. There were "multiple reality checks", he notes with a grin, starting with his first game; a heavy loss at Morecambe.

"That represented a true eye-opener," Quansah reflects. "It proved a really valuable chapter in my development because I wanted to make the subsequent progression to playing first-team football. Each match I learned something new. That's where I understood how crucial practical knowledge and match practice was. You could suggest it informed my choice in the off-season."