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

"From the outside, it appears crazy," Jarell Quansah remarks, 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 Brief Summary

Shortly after claiming victory in the U21 European Championship with the English national team 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 settling in in a new country and at a team where the turnover was dramatic. The new manager had taken over to succeed the previous coach and a host of star performers were gone or going – including several high-profile names, Piero Hincapié, influential figures, prominent athletes, experienced professionals, Lukas Hradecky and Jonathan Tah.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on August 23rd at home to their opponents and the centre-half found the net after five minutes, albeit the goal was overshadowed by tragedy. All he could think about was Diogo Jota, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah executed Jota's gamer celebration as a tribute.

"Scoring on your first Bundesliga match, at home, after the opening moments, is definitely a whirlwind," Quansah says. "However, my dominant emotion was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Initial Struggles

The defender could have been forgiven for wondering what he had committed to at the German club. From the promising start in their opening league fixture, they succumbed to a narrow loss and the following game on August 30th was just as bad. Ten Hag's team squandered comfortable advantages to finish level at their reduced opponents, the equaliser coming in stoppage time. It was no longer his responsibility for much longer. He was sacked on September 1st.

Staying Focused

Quansah doesn't appear to be the kind to worry. If composure characterizes his playing style, it was evident during the conversation he gave after joining England for the Wembley friendly against their rivals and the World Cup qualifier against their next opponents.

Quansah has kept his head down under the new Leverkusen manager, Kasper Hjulmand, and continued to do what he originally planned to do at the club – play. The new manager has brought stability. His team have positive results in four league matches along with ties in each of their European matches. But there is a broader statistic that encourages Quansah, even bringing a sense of justification. It is the fact that demonstrates he has played every minute of the club's campaign.

International Recognition

It is one that Thomas Tuchel has noted. 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 Under-21 European Championship, he gave him a late call-up in September when John Stones was compelled to pull out.

Yet to earn his first cap, Quansah must have done something right in training and within the squad environment because he was named at the beginning in Tuchel's squad selection for Wales and Latvia, effectively as a fifth centre-back with the regular starter returning. The dream is a debut. It is one more milestone he would certainly handle with ease.

Decision Making

"At Leverkusen, the club were keen on signing me for a considerable time and that's not only from the coach," Quansah says. "Their interest existed before he got appointed. So knowing it was a type of organizational choice and things would remain consistent with which manager was to take over ... it was straightforward for me to choose this path.

"There were a lot of players departing and it's always tough when you see important figures leave. It has been tough to establish new hierarchies but the outcomes we have had recently demonstrate that we have developed a good squad with quality players. It is requiring patience to develop and we are not where we want to be. But if we are getting results and avoiding defeats that is a good place to start."

Leaving Childhood Club

It had to have been a wrench for Quansah to leave Liverpool, his team since childhood, where he enjoyed so many significant occasions – such as the league cup triumph over their London rivals in the previous season when he was introduced as an extra-time substitute.

Quansah was also involved in last season's Premier League title triumph. 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 numbers from the prior season when he featured more regularly.

Career Development

"I consistently developed off some of the best players around me at my former club and it's been incredibly beneficial for my professional development," he says. "However, for a developing defender, 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 top-level club, it's not guaranteed because there are world-class players all over the pitch. I wanted an environment where they can have confidence that I might make mistakes at certain moments but they will see beyond that and see I can continue developing and pushing."

Foundation Building

Quansah recalls his temporary transfer to the lower division club in the second-half of 2022-23 where he debuted at professional level – multiple matches, to be precise. There were "numerous wake-up calls", he says with a grin, beginning with his first game; a 5-1 defeat at their opponents.

"That represented a true eye-opener," Quansah reflects. "It was a extremely important chapter in my development because I wanted to make the next step to regular senior competition. Each match I gained fresh insights. That's where I knew how valuable practical knowledge and match practice was. You could say it informed my decision in the off-season."