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"From the outside, it appears crazy," the young defender says, as he reflects on his summer just gone, when rapid transformation felt like a constant. "But it is one of them ... football is a unpredictable game."

A Quick Recap

Shortly after claiming victory in the European Under-21 Championship with the English national team at the conclusion of June, Quansah opted to depart from Liverpool, to go to Bayer Leverkusen 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 club where the churn was dramatic. The new manager had stepped in to succeed Xabi Alonso and a host of key players were gone or going – chief among them several high-profile names, key squad members, Jeremie Frimpong, Amine Adli, experienced professionals, Lukas Hradecky and Jonathan Tah.

League Introduction

Quansah's first league appearance 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 overshadowed by sadness. 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 mark of respect.

"To have a goal on your first Bundesliga match, at home, after the opening moments, is definitely a whirlwind," Quansah states. "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 signed up for at Leverkusen. After the encouraging beginning in their first league game, they fell to a narrow loss and the following game on August 30th was just as bad. The squad threw away comfortable advantages to finish level at 10-man Werder Bremen, the tying goal coming in added time. It was no longer his responsibility for very long. His dismissal came on September 1st.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah doesn't appear to be the type to fret. If calmness defines his game, it was on show during the interview he participated in after joining the national team for the Wembley friendly against their rivals and the qualifying match against their next opponents.

Quansah has remained focused under the new Leverkusen manager, the Danish tactician, and continued to do what he originally planned to do at the team – play. The new manager has brought stability. His team have three wins and one draw in four league matches along with draws in each of their Champions League ties. But there is a broader statistic that motivates the player, even bringing a measure of vindication. It is the fact that demonstrates he has played every minute of the club's campaign.

National Team Attention

It is something that the England head coach has observed. The England head coach was a fan last season, selecting Quansah 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 John Stones was compelled to pull out.

Yet to earn his international debut, Quansah must have done something right in practice sessions and around the camp 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 debut. It is one more milestone he would surely take in his stride.

Decision Making

"At Leverkusen, the club were interested in me for a while and that's not just from the coach," Quansah explains. "Their interest existed prior to his arrival. So knowing it was a type of internal decision and nothing would change with which manager 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 see important figures leave. It has been tough to build the leadership groups but the results we have had [under Hjulmand] 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 getting results and avoiding defeats that is a solid foundation to start."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a wrench for Quansah to leave his long-time club, his team since childhood, where he enjoyed so many memorable moments – such as the Carabao Cup final victory over Chelsea in the previous season when he came on as an late replacement.

Quansah was also involved in last season's Premier League title triumph. Yet his perspective 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 four starts and nine appearances comparing unfavourably with his statistics from the prior season when he started nine games.

Career Development

"I consistently developed off top-level professionals around me at Liverpool and it's been so good for my career," he comments. "But as a young centre-back, you need games and I'm going to be needing 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 promised 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 see I can continue developing and pushing."

Early Experience

Quansah remembers his loan to the lower division club in the later part of that season where he made his first senior appearances – 16 of them, to be exact. There were "multiple reality checks", he notes with a smile, starting with his first game; a 5-1 defeat at their opponents.

"That represented a true eye-opener," Quansah says. "It was a really valuable 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 when I knew how crucial experience and playing games was. You could suggest it influenced my decision in the summer."