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"From the outside, it seems insane," the young defender remarks, as he looks back 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 Quick Recap

Days after claiming victory in the European Under-21 Championship with England at the end of June, Quansah opted to depart from Liverpool, to join the Bundesliga side in a multi-million pound transfer.

The significant transfer sum equalled high expectations as the 22-year-old was charged with settling in in a foreign land and at a team 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 – including several high-profile names, key squad members, Jeremie Frimpong, prominent athletes, experienced professionals, Lukas Hradecky and Jonathan Tah.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's first league appearance came on 23 August at their home ground to Hoffenheim and the centre-half scored after the opening minutes, though the goal was undercut by sadness. His primary thought was his former Liverpool teammate, who was tragically lost in a road incident. Quansah performed his teammate's signature celebration as a mark of respect.

"To have a goal on your Bundesliga debut, at home, after five minutes, is certainly a rollercoaster," Quansah says. "But my overwhelming feeling was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Early Challenges

The defender could have been forgiven for wondering 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 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 equaliser 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 type to fret. If calmness defines his game, it was on show during the interview he gave after being selected for the national team for the Wembley friendly against their rivals and the qualifying match against Latvia.

Quansah has kept his head down under the current coach, the Danish tactician, and continued to do what he originally planned to do at the team – play. Hjulmand has established consistency. His squad have positive results in four league matches along with ties in each of their Champions League ties. 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 something that Thomas Tuchel has observed. The national team manager was a fan previously, including him when he announced his initial selection. After leaving him out in June so that Quansah could focus on the Under-21 European Championship, he provided him with a late call-up in the autumn when John Stones was compelled to pull out.

Still to win his first cap, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in training and within the squad environment because he was named at the beginning in Tuchel's 24‑man group for Wales and Latvia, effectively as a additional defensive option with Stones fit again. The aspiration is a debut. It is one more milestone he would certainly take in his stride.

Decision Making

"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 prior to his arrival. So knowing it was a sort of internal decision and nothing would change with which manager was to come in ... it was straightforward for me to choose this path.

"We had a lot of players departing and it's always tough when you see important figures leave. It has been difficult to establish new hierarchies but the results we have had recently show that we have got a good squad with talented individuals. It is going to take time to develop and we are still progressing. But if we are achieving positive outcomes and not losing that is a solid foundation to start."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a difficult separation for Quansah to depart from his long-time club, his club from the age of five, 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 late replacement.

Quansah was also a part of the previous campaign's Premier League title triumph. Yet his view of most of that achievement was not the one he would have chosen. He was an non-playing reserve on multiple matches in the competition, his four starts and nine appearances comparing unfavourably with his statistics from 2023‑24 when he started nine games.

Career Development

"I consistently developed off top-level professionals around me at my former club and it's been so good for my professional development," he comments. "But as a young centre-back, you require match experience and I'm will require hundreds of games to be where I want to be.

"My primary desire was regular playing opportunities and when you are at a team like Liverpool, it's not guaranteed because there are world-class players all over the pitch. I wanted an environment where they can trust that I might make mistakes at certain moments but they will look under that and recognize I can continue developing and pushing."

Foundation Building

Quansah remembers 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 "numerous wake-up calls", he notes with a grin, starting with his first game; a heavy loss at their opponents.

"That represented a genuine revelation," Quansah says. "It was a really valuable part of my career because I aimed to take the subsequent progression to regular senior competition. Every game I learned something new. That's when I understood how crucial experience and match practice was. You could suggest it informed my choice in the off-season."