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"To an observer, it appears crazy," the young defender remarks, as he looks back on his recent summer, when rapid transformation felt like a constant. "But it is one of them ... football is a unpredictable game."

A Quick Recap

Days after claiming victory in the European Under-21 Championship with England at the conclusion of June, Quansah opted to depart from his childhood club, to go to Bayer Leverkusen in a £30m deal.

The big fee equalled big pressure as the young defender was tasked with settling in in a foreign land and at a club where the churn was substantial. Erik ten Hag had taken over to replace Xabi Alonso and a host of star performers were gone or going – including several high-profile names, Piero Hincapié, influential figures, Amine Adli, Granit Xhaka, Lukas Hradecky and Jonathan Tah.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on 23 August at home to their opponents and the centre-half scored after the opening minutes, though the goal was undercut by tragedy. All he could think about was Diogo Jota, who was tragically lost in a road incident. Quansah performed Jota's gamer celebration as a mark of respect.

"To have a goal on your Bundesliga debut, at home, after five minutes, is certainly a whirlwind," Quansah states. "However, my dominant emotion was that it was a homage to Diogo."

Initial Struggles

The defender could have been excused for questioning what he had committed to at Leverkusen. From the promising start in their opening league fixture, they fell to a 2-1 defeat and the next match on August 30th was just as bad. The squad squandered comfortable advantages to finish level at their reduced opponents, the tying goal coming in added time. It was no longer his responsibility for very long. He was sacked on September 1st.

Staying Focused

Quansah does not come across as the type to fret. If calmness characterizes his playing style, it was evident during the conversation he gave after joining the national team for the international friendly against their rivals and the qualifying match against their next opponents.

Quansah has remained focused under the current coach, the Danish tactician, and persisted in doing what he always intended to do at the team – compete. The new manager has brought stability. His team have positive results in their domestic campaign along with ties in each of their European matches. But there is a broader statistic that motivates the player, 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 England head coach was a admirer last season, selecting Quansah when he announced his initial selection. After leaving him out in the summer so that Quansah could concentrate on the Under-21 European Championship, he provided him with a last-minute inclusion in the autumn when John Stones was compelled to pull out.

Yet to earn his first cap, Quansah must have done something right in training and around the camp because he was named at the outset in the manager's 24‑man group for Wales and Latvia, effectively as a additional defensive option with Stones fit again. The dream is a first appearance. It is another thing he would certainly take in his stride.

Career Choices

"At Leverkusen, the team were interested in me for a considerable time and that's not only from the coach," Quansah says. "They were interested before he got appointed. So knowing it was a type of internal decision and nothing would change with which manager was to come in ... it was straightforward for me to make that decision.

"We had a numerous squad members departing and it's consistently challenging when you see important figures leave. It has been difficult to build the leadership groups but the results we have had [under Hjulmand] show that we have developed a good squad with quality players. It is requiring patience to develop and we are still progressing. But if we are getting results and not losing 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 experienced so many significant occasions – such as the Carabao Cup final victory over their London rivals in the previous season when he came on as an extra-time substitute.

Quansah was also involved in last season's Premier League title triumph. Yet his view of much of that was not the perspective he would have chosen. He was an non-playing reserve on 25 occasions in the competition, his limited playing time falling short compared to his statistics from the prior season when he started nine games.

Professional Growth

"I consistently developed off some of the best players around me at my former club and it's been incredibly beneficial for my career," he comments. "But as a young centre-back, you need games and I'm going to be needing extensive playing time to be where I want to be.

"I just wanted game time and when you are at a top-level club, it's not promised because there are elite performers all over the pitch. I wanted an environment where they can have confidence that I could errors at times but they will look under that and recognize I can keep pushing and improving."

Foundation Building

Quansah remembers his loan to the lower division club in the later part of that season where he made his first senior appearances – multiple matches, to be exact. There were "multiple reality checks", he notes with a grin, beginning with his debut; a heavy loss at Morecambe.

"That represented a genuine revelation," Quansah says. "It proved a extremely important 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 understood how crucial practical knowledge and playing games was. You could say it influenced my choice in the off-season."