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"To an observer, it seems insane," Jarell Quansah says, as he looks back on his recent summer, when dizzying change 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 opted to depart from Liverpool, to join the Bundesliga side in a multi-million pound transfer.

The significant transfer sum brought big pressure as the young defender was tasked with settling in in a foreign land and at a club where the churn was dramatic. The new manager had taken over to replace Xabi Alonso and a host of star performers were departing or already left – including several high-profile names, Piero Hincapié, Jeremie Frimpong, Amine Adli, experienced professionals, established players and team leaders.

League Introduction

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 performed Jota's gamer celebration as a mark of respect.

"Scoring on your first Bundesliga match, in front of home fans, after five minutes, is certainly a rollercoaster," Quansah states. "But my overwhelming feeling was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Initial Struggles

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 succumbed to a 2-1 defeat and the next match on 30 August was just as bad. Ten Hag's team 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 not Ten Hag's team for much longer. He was sacked on September 1st.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah doesn't appear to be the type to fret. If composure defines his game, it was on show during the conversation he participated in after being selected for the national team for the Wembley friendly against their rivals and the World Cup qualifier against Latvia.

Quansah has kept his head down under the current coach, the Danish tactician, and persisted in doing what he always intended to do at the club – play. Hjulmand has established consistency. His team have positive results in their domestic campaign along with ties 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.

International Recognition

It is one that the England head coach has observed. The national team manager was a fan previously, selecting Quansah when he named his first squad. After omitting him in the summer so that Quansah could concentrate on the youth tournament, he gave him a late call-up in September when John Stones was forced to withdraw.

Yet to earn his international debut, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in practice sessions and around the camp because he was selected at the outset in Tuchel's 24‑man group for the upcoming matches, essentially as a fifth centre-back with Stones fit again. The dream is a debut. It is one more milestone he would certainly handle with ease.

Decision Making

"With my new club, the team were keen on signing me for a considerable time and that's not just from the coach," Quansah explains. "They were interested prior to his arrival. So knowing it was a type of internal decision and nothing would change with whatever coach was to take over ... it was straightforward for me to choose this path.

"There were a numerous squad members departing 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 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 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 memorable moments – such as the league cup triumph over Chelsea in the previous season when he was introduced as an late replacement.

Quansah was also a part of the previous campaign's domestic championship success. 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 competition, his four starts and nine appearances comparing unfavourably with his numbers from the prior season when he featured more regularly.

Career Development

"I consistently developed off top-level professionals around me at Liverpool and it's been incredibly beneficial for my professional development," he comments. "But as a young centre-back, you require match experience and I'm will require hundreds of games to be at my desired level.

"I just wanted game time and when you are at a team like Liverpool, it's not guaranteed because there are elite performers throughout the squad. I wanted somewhere where they can trust that I might make mistakes at certain moments but they will see beyond that and see I can keep pushing 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 – 16 of them, to be exact. There were "numerous wake-up calls", he says with a grin, starting with his debut; a 5-1 defeat at their opponents.

"That was a genuine revelation," Quansah says. "It was a extremely important part of my career because I aimed to take the subsequent progression to playing first-team football. Every game I gained fresh insights. That's where I knew how crucial experience and match practice was. You could suggest it influenced my choice in the summer."