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"From the outside, it appears insane," 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 Quick Recap

Days after claiming victory in the European Under-21 Championship with England at the conclusion of June, Quansah opted to depart from Liverpool, to join the Bundesliga side in a £30m deal.

The significant transfer sum equalled big pressure as the young defender was charged with settling in in a foreign land and at a team where the turnover was dramatic. Erik ten Hag had stepped in to succeed Xabi Alonso and a number of key players were gone or going – including several high-profile names, Piero Hincapié, influential figures, prominent athletes, Granit Xhaka, established players and team leaders.

League Introduction

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on 23 August at their home ground to their opponents and the central defender found the net after five 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 his teammate's signature celebration as a tribute.

"To have a goal on your first Bundesliga match, at home, after five minutes, is definitely a whirlwind," Quansah states. "However, my dominant emotion 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 opening league fixture, they fell to a 2-1 defeat and the next match on August 30th was equally disappointing. Ten Hag's team squandered comfortable advantages to draw 3-3 at their reduced opponents, the tying goal coming in stoppage time. It was not Ten Hag's team for very long. His dismissal came on 1 September.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah does not come across as the kind to worry. If calmness characterizes his playing style, it was on show during the interview he participated in after being selected for England for the international friendly against Wales and the qualifying match against their next opponents.

Quansah has remained focused under the current coach, the Danish tactician, and persisted in doing what he originally planned to do at the club – compete. Hjulmand has brought stability. His squad have three wins and one draw in four league matches 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 been ever-present of the club's campaign.

National Team Attention

It is one that the England head coach has noted. The national team manager was a fan previously, including him when he named his first squad. After omitting him in June so that Quansah could focus on the Under-21 European Championship, he gave him a late call-up in September when John Stones was compelled to pull out.

Yet to earn his international debut, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in training and around the camp because he was named at the beginning in the manager's 24‑man group for Wales and Latvia, effectively as a fifth centre-back with Stones fit again. The dream is a first appearance. It is one more milestone he would certainly handle with ease.

Decision Making

"With my new club, the club were interested in me for a considerable time and that's not just from the manager [Ten Hag]," Quansah explains. "Their interest existed before he got appointed. So knowing it was a sort of organizational choice and nothing would change with whatever coach was to take over ... it was straightforward for me to make that decision.

"We had a lot of players leaving and it's always tough when you lose key players. It has been tough to build the leadership groups but the outcomes we have had [under Hjulmand] show that we have developed a competitive team with talented individuals. It is requiring patience 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 difficult separation for Quansah to leave 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 was introduced as an extra-time substitute.

Quansah was also involved in the previous campaign's Premier League title triumph. Yet his view of much of that was not the perspective he would have preferred. He was an non-playing reserve on multiple matches in the competition, his limited playing time falling short compared to his statistics from 2023‑24 when he started nine games.

Professional Growth

"I've always learned off top-level professionals around me at my former club and it's been incredibly beneficial for my professional development," he says. "But as a young centre-back, you require match experience and I'm going to be needing hundreds of games to be where I want to be.

"My primary desire was game time and when you are at a top-level club, it's not promised because there are elite performers all over the pitch. I wanted an environment where they can have confidence that I might make mistakes at certain moments but they will look under that and recognize I can keep pushing and pushing."

Foundation Building

Quansah recalls his loan to League One Bristol Rovers in the second-half of 2022-23 where he made his first senior appearances – multiple matches, to be precise. There were "multiple reality checks", he says with a smile, beginning with his debut; a 5-1 defeat at Morecambe.

"That represented a true eye-opener," Quansah says. "It was a extremely important part of my career because I aimed to take the subsequent progression to playing first-team football. Every game I gained fresh insights. That's where I understood how valuable experience and match practice was. You could say it informed my choice in the summer."