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"From the outside, it seems crazy," Jarell Quansah remarks, as he reflects on his summer just gone, when dizzying change felt like a constant. "However, that's just how it goes ... football is a unpredictable game."

A Brief Summary

Days after winning the European Under-21 Championship with England at the end 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 big pressure as the young defender was charged with settling in in a new country and at a club where the churn was substantial. The new manager had stepped in to succeed Xabi Alonso and a number of star performers were gone or going – including several high-profile names, key squad members, influential figures, Amine Adli, experienced professionals, Lukas Hradecky and Jonathan Tah.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on August 23rd at their home ground to Hoffenheim and the centre-half found the net after the opening minutes, though the achievement was undercut by tragedy. His primary thought was his former Liverpool teammate, who was tragically lost in a road incident. Quansah executed Jota's gamer celebration as a mark of respect.

"Scoring on your Bundesliga debut, in front of home fans, after the opening moments, is definitely a rollercoaster," Quansah says. "However, my dominant emotion was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Early Challenges

The player could have been excused for questioning what he had committed to at the German club. From the promising start in their first league game, they fell to a 2-1 defeat and the following game 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 not Ten Hag's team for very long. He was sacked on September 1st.

Staying Focused

Quansah does not come across as the kind to worry. If composure defines his game, it was on show during the interview he gave after joining the national team for the Wembley friendly against Wales and the qualifying match against Latvia.

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 established consistency. His team have three wins and one draw in their domestic campaign along with ties in each of their Champions League ties. But there is a broader statistic that motivates the player, 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 the England head coach has noted. The national team manager was a admirer last season, including him when he announced his initial selection. After leaving him out in the summer so that Quansah could focus on the youth tournament, he provided him with a late call-up in September when the experienced defender was compelled to pull out.

Yet to earn 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 Wales and Latvia, effectively as a fifth centre-back with Stones fit again. The aspiration is a debut. It is another thing he would certainly take in his stride.

Career Choices

"With my new club, the team were interested in me for a considerable time and that's not just from the coach," Quansah says. "They were interested prior to his arrival. So understanding it was a type of internal decision and things would remain consistent with whatever coach was to take over ... it was easy for me to make that decision.

"There were a lot of players departing and it's always tough when you lose key players. It has been tough to establish new hierarchies but the results we have had recently 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 avoiding defeats that is a good place to begin from."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a difficult separation for Quansah to leave his long-time club, his club from the age of five, where he experienced so many memorable moments – such as the league cup triumph over their London rivals in 2023‑24 when he came on as an extra-time substitute.

Quansah was also a part of last season's domestic championship success. Yet his view of most of that achievement was not the perspective he would have preferred. He was an unused substitute on multiple matches 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 top-level professionals around me at Liverpool 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 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 elite performers all over the pitch. I wanted somewhere 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 improving."

Foundation Building

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, beginning with his first game; a 5-1 defeat at Morecambe.

"That was a genuine revelation," Quansah reflects. "It proved a really valuable chapter in my development because I aimed to take the next step to playing first-team football. Every game I gained fresh insights. That's where I understood how valuable experience and playing games was. You could suggest it influenced my decision in the off-season."