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

A Quick Recap

Shortly after winning the U21 European Championship with England at the end of June, Quansah decided to leave Liverpool, to join the Bundesliga side in a multi-million pound transfer.

The significant transfer sum brought high expectations as the 22-year-old was charged with finding his feet in a new country and at a team where the turnover was dramatic. Erik ten Hag had stepped in to replace the previous coach and a host of star performers were gone or going – including Florian Wirtz, key squad members, influential figures, prominent athletes, experienced professionals, Lukas Hradecky and Jonathan Tah.

Bundesliga Debut

Quansah's first league appearance came on August 23rd at home to Hoffenheim and the central defender found the net after five minutes, albeit the achievement was undercut by sadness. All he could think about was Diogo Jota, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah performed his teammate's signature celebration as a tribute.

"Scoring on your first Bundesliga match, in front of home fans, after five minutes, is certainly a whirlwind," Quansah says. "However, my dominant emotion was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Early Challenges

The player 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 narrow loss and the following game on August 30th was equally disappointing. The squad threw away 2-0 and 3-1 leads to finish level at their reduced opponents, the tying goal coming in stoppage time. It was no longer his responsibility for much longer. He was sacked on September 1st.

Staying Focused

Quansah does not come across as the kind to worry. If calmness defines his game, it was evident during the interview he participated in after joining the national team for the international friendly against their rivals 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 team – compete. The new manager has established consistency. His team have positive results in their domestic campaign along with ties in each of their Champions League ties. But there is a broader statistic that encourages Quansah, 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 one that Thomas Tuchel has observed. The England head coach was a fan previously, selecting Quansah when he named his first squad. After leaving him out in June so that Quansah could focus on the youth tournament, he provided him with a last-minute inclusion in the autumn when the experienced defender was compelled to pull out.

Yet to earn his first cap, Quansah must have impressed sufficiently in training and within the squad environment because he was selected at the beginning in the manager's 24‑man group for the upcoming matches, effectively as a fifth centre-back with Stones fit again. The aspiration is a first appearance. 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 only from the coach," Quansah says. "They were interested prior to his arrival. So knowing it was a type of organizational choice and nothing would change with which manager was to come in ... it was straightforward for me to make that decision.

"There were a lot of players departing and it's consistently challenging when you see important figures leave. It has been difficult to build the leadership groups but the results we have had [under Hjulmand] show that we have developed a competitive team with quality players. 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 start."

Leaving Childhood Club

It had to have been a wrench for Quansah to leave Liverpool, his club from the age of five, where he experienced so many memorable moments – such as the Carabao Cup final victory over their London rivals in 2023‑24 when he was introduced as an late replacement.

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

Professional Growth

"I consistently developed 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 will require hundreds of games to be where I want to be.

"I just wanted game time and when you are at a team like Liverpool, it's not guaranteed because there are elite performers 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."

Foundation Building

Quansah remembers his temporary transfer to the lower division club in the later part of that season where he made his first senior appearances – multiple matches, to be exact. There were "multiple reality checks", he notes with a smile, beginning with his first game; a 5-1 defeat at Morecambe.

"That represented a genuine revelation," Quansah reflects. "It was a extremely important chapter in my development because I wanted to make the subsequent progression to regular senior competition. Every game I gained fresh insights. That's where I understood how valuable experience and playing games was. You could suggest it informed my choice in the summer."