Bayer Leverkusen's Quansah Remains Composed and Continues Onward in His Gradual Ascent to Football Fame

"To an observer, it seems 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 crazy game."

A Quick Recap

Days after winning the European Under-21 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 big fee equalled big pressure as the young defender was charged with finding his feet in a foreign land and at a club where the churn was dramatic. The new manager had taken over to replace Xabi Alonso and a host of key players were gone or going – chief among them Florian Wirtz, Piero Hincapié, influential figures, Amine Adli, Granit Xhaka, Lukas Hradecky and team leaders.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on August 23rd at home to Hoffenheim and the central defender found the net after five minutes, though the goal was overshadowed 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 mark of respect.

"Scoring on your first Bundesliga match, at home, after the opening moments, is definitely a rollercoaster," Quansah states. "But my overwhelming feeling was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Initial Struggles

The player could have been excused for questioning what he had signed up for at the German club. From the promising start in their first league game, they fell to a 2-1 defeat and the next match on August 30th was just as bad. The squad squandered 2-0 and 3-1 leads to draw 3-3 at their reduced opponents, the tying goal coming in added time. It was no longer his responsibility for very long. His dismissal came on September 1st.

Staying Focused

Quansah does not come across as the type to fret. If composure defines his game, it was evident during the conversation he participated in after being selected for the national team for the international friendly against their rivals and the World Cup qualifier against their next opponents.

Quansah has kept his head down under the current coach, the Danish tactician, and persisted in doing what he always intended to do at the team – play. Hjulmand has brought stability. His squad have three wins and one draw in four league matches along with ties in each of their European matches. But there is a more significant number that encourages Quansah, even bringing a sense of justification. It is the one which shows he has played every minute of the club's campaign.

National Team Attention

It is one that Thomas Tuchel has noted. The national team manager was a fan 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 September when the experienced defender was compelled to pull out.

Yet to earn his international debut, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in practice sessions and within the squad environment because he was selected at the outset in the manager'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 surely handle with ease.

Decision Making

"At Leverkusen, the team were keen on signing me for a considerable time and that's not just from the manager [Ten Hag]," Quansah says. "Their interest existed before he got appointed. So understanding it was a sort of internal decision and nothing would change with whatever coach was to come in ... it was easy for me to make that decision.

"We had a numerous squad members leaving and it's consistently challenging when you see important figures leave. It has been difficult to build the leadership groups but the outcomes we have had [under Hjulmand] demonstrate that we have got a good squad with talented individuals. It is going to take time to build and we are not where we want to be. But if we are achieving positive outcomes and not losing that is a good place to begin from."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a wrench for Quansah to depart from 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 Chelsea in 2023‑24 when he was introduced as an extra-time substitute.

Quansah was also a part of the previous campaign's domestic championship success. Yet his view of much of that was not the one he would have preferred. He was an unused substitute on multiple matches in the competition, his four starts and nine appearances comparing unfavourably with his numbers from 2023‑24 when he featured more regularly.

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 professional development," he comments. "But as a young centre-back, you need games and I'm will require hundreds of games to be at my desired level.

"My primary desire was game time and when you are at a top-level club, it's not guaranteed because there are elite performers throughout the squad. I wanted an environment where they can have confidence that I could errors at certain moments but they will see beyond that and recognize I can keep pushing and pushing."

Foundation Building

Quansah remembers his temporary transfer to League One Bristol Rovers in the second-half of 2022-23 where he made his first senior appearances – 16 of them, to be exact. There were "multiple reality checks", he says with a grin, beginning with his debut; a heavy loss at Morecambe.

"That represented a true eye-opener," Quansah reflects. "It was a extremely important part of my career because I wanted to make the next step to playing first-team football. Each match I learned something new. That's when I understood how crucial experience and match practice was. You could suggest it informed my decision in the off-season."