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"From the outside, it seems insane," Jarell Quansah says, as he looks back on his recent summer, when dizzying change felt like a constant. "But it is one of them ... football is a unpredictable game."

A Quick Recap

Days after winning the U21 European Championship with the English national team at the end of June, Quansah decided to leave his childhood club, to go to the Bundesliga side in a £30m deal.

The significant transfer sum brought high expectations as the young defender was tasked with settling in in a new country and at a team where the turnover was substantial. Erik ten Hag had stepped in to succeed Xabi Alonso and a host of key players were departing or already left – chief among them Florian Wirtz, key squad members, Jeremie Frimpong, Amine Adli, Granit Xhaka, established players and Jonathan Tah.

League Introduction

Quansah's first league appearance came on August 23rd at home to their opponents and the central defender scored after five minutes, though the goal was undercut by tragedy. All he could think about was Diogo Jota, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah performed his teammate's signature celebration as a tribute.

"To have a goal on your first Bundesliga match, in front of home fans, after the opening moments, is definitely a whirlwind," Quansah states. "But my overwhelming feeling was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Early Challenges

The player could have been forgiven for wondering what he had signed up for at the German club. From the promising start in their first league game, they fell to a narrow loss and the following game 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 added time. It was not Ten Hag's team for much longer. He was sacked on 1 September.

Staying Focused

Quansah doesn't appear to be the kind to worry. If composure defines his game, it was evident during the conversation he gave after being selected for the national team for the Wembley friendly against Wales and the qualifying match against their next opponents.

Quansah has kept his head down under the current coach, the Danish tactician, and persisted in doing what he originally planned to do at the club – play. Hjulmand has brought stability. His team have three wins and one draw in their domestic campaign along with draws in each of their European matches. But there is a broader statistic that encourages Quansah, even bringing a measure of vindication. 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 June so that Quansah could concentrate on the youth tournament, he provided him with a last-minute inclusion in September when John Stones was forced to withdraw.

Still to win his first cap, Quansah must have done something right in training and around the camp because he was selected at the outset in Tuchel's squad selection for the upcoming matches, effectively as a fifth centre-back with the regular starter returning. The dream is a debut. It is another thing he would surely handle with ease.

Career Choices

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

"We had a lot of players leaving and it's consistently challenging when you lose key players. It has been difficult to establish new hierarchies but the outcomes we have had recently show that we have developed a good squad with quality players. It is going to take time 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 begin from."

Liverpool Departure

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 Carabao Cup final victory over Chelsea in the previous season when he was introduced as an extra-time substitute.

Quansah was also a part of the previous campaign's Premier League title triumph. Yet his perspective of most of that achievement was not the perspective he would have chosen. He was an unused substitute on 25 occasions in the league, his limited playing time comparing unfavourably with his numbers from the prior season when he started nine games.

Career Development

"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 require match experience and I'm going to be needing extensive playing time to be at my desired level.

"I just wanted regular playing opportunities and when you are at a top-level club, it's not promised because there are world-class players throughout the squad. I wanted an environment where they can have confidence that I might make mistakes at certain moments but they will look under that and see I can continue developing and pushing."

Early Experience

Quansah remembers his loan to the lower division club in the later part of that season where he debuted at professional level – multiple matches, to be precise. There were "multiple reality checks", he notes with a smile, beginning with his first game; a heavy loss at their opponents.

"That was a genuine revelation," Quansah reflects. "It proved a extremely important chapter in my development because I wanted to make the subsequent progression to regular senior competition. Each match I learned something new. That's when I knew how crucial experience and match practice was. You could say it informed my decision in the off-season."