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

"From the outside, it seems insane," the young defender says, 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 Brief Summary

Days after winning the U21 European Championship with England at the conclusion of June, Quansah opted to depart from his childhood club, to go to the Bundesliga side in a multi-million pound transfer.

The significant transfer sum brought high expectations as the 22-year-old was tasked with finding his feet in a new country and at a team where the turnover was dramatic. Erik ten Hag had taken over to succeed the previous coach and a number of key players were gone or going – including Florian Wirtz, Piero Hincapié, influential figures, 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 scored after five minutes, albeit the achievement was overshadowed by tragedy. All he could think about was his former Liverpool teammate, who was tragically lost in a road incident. 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 certainly a rollercoaster," Quansah states. "However, my dominant emotion was that it was a homage to Diogo."

Initial Struggles

The player could have been forgiven for wondering what he had committed to at Leverkusen. From the promising start in their first league game, they succumbed to a narrow loss and the next match on 30 August was equally disappointing. Ten Hag's team threw away 2-0 and 3-1 leads to draw 3-3 at their reduced opponents, the tying goal coming in added time. It was not Ten Hag's team for very long. He was sacked on 1 September.

Staying Focused

Quansah doesn't appear to be the kind to worry. If calmness characterizes his playing style, it was evident during the interview he gave 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 new Leverkusen manager, the Danish tactician, and continued to do what he always intended to do at the team – compete. The new manager has brought stability. His squad have positive results in their domestic campaign along with draws in each of their Champions League ties. 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 team's season.

National Team Attention

It is one that Thomas Tuchel has observed. The national team manager was a admirer last season, including him when he announced his initial selection. After omitting him in June so that Quansah could concentrate on the youth tournament, he provided him with a last-minute inclusion in the autumn when the experienced defender was forced to withdraw.

Still to win his first cap, Quansah must have done something right in practice sessions and within the squad environment because he was named at the beginning in Tuchel's squad selection for the upcoming matches, essentially as a fifth centre-back with the regular starter returning. The dream is a first appearance. It is another thing he would certainly handle with ease.

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. "They were interested before he got appointed. So understanding it was a sort of internal decision and things would remain consistent 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 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 good squad with talented individuals. It is going to take time to develop and we are still progressing. But if we are getting results and avoiding defeats that is a solid foundation to start."

Leaving Childhood Club

It had to have been a wrench for Quansah to depart from Liverpool, his team since childhood, where he enjoyed so many memorable moments – such as the league cup triumph over Chelsea in 2023‑24 when he came on as an late replacement.

Quansah was also involved in last season's Premier League title triumph. Yet his perspective of most of that achievement was not the one he would have chosen. He was an non-playing reserve on 25 occasions in the competition, his limited playing time comparing unfavourably with his numbers from 2023‑24 when he featured more regularly.

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 will require extensive playing time 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 throughout the squad. I wanted an environment where they can trust that I could errors at certain moments but they will see beyond that and recognize I can continue developing and pushing."

Early Experience

Quansah recalls 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 smile, starting with his debut; a heavy loss at Morecambe.

"That was a true eye-opener," Quansah reflects. "It proved a extremely important chapter in my development because I wanted to make the subsequent progression to regular senior competition. Every game I gained fresh insights. That's where I understood how valuable practical knowledge and playing games was. You could say it informed my decision in the summer."