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"To an observer, it appears crazy," the young defender says, 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 Brief Summary

Days after winning the U21 European Championship with the English national team at the conclusion of June, Quansah decided to leave Liverpool, to go to the Bundesliga side in a multi-million pound transfer.

The big fee brought high expectations as the young defender was charged with finding his feet in a new country and at a team where the turnover was substantial. The new manager had stepped in to succeed the previous coach and a number of key players were gone or going – including Florian Wirtz, Piero Hincapié, Jeremie Frimpong, Amine Adli, Granit Xhaka, Lukas Hradecky and Jonathan Tah.

League Introduction

Quansah's Bundesliga debut came on August 23rd at home to Hoffenheim and the centre-half found the net after the opening minutes, albeit the goal was overshadowed by sadness. All he could think about was his former Liverpool teammate, who was killed in a car accident. Quansah executed his teammate's signature celebration as a tribute.

"To have a goal on your first Bundesliga match, at home, after the opening moments, is certainly a whirlwind," Quansah says. "But my overwhelming feeling was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Initial Struggles

The defender could have been excused for questioning what he had signed up for at the German club. From the promising start in their opening league fixture, they fell to a narrow loss and the following game 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 not Ten Hag's team for much longer. He was sacked on September 1st.

Maintaining Composure

Quansah doesn't appear to be the kind to worry. If calmness defines his game, it was on show during the conversation he gave after being selected for the national team for the Wembley friendly against Wales and the World Cup qualifier 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 – play. The new manager has established consistency. His squad have three wins and one draw in their domestic campaign along with ties in each of their Champions League ties. But there is a broader statistic that motivates the player, even bringing a sense of justification. It is the fact that demonstrates he has been ever-present of the team's season.

National Team Attention

It is one that Thomas Tuchel has noted. The national team manager was a fan last season, selecting Quansah when he named his first squad. 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 the experienced defender was compelled to pull out.

Yet to earn his first cap, Quansah must have done something right in practice sessions and within the squad environment because he was named at the beginning in the manager's squad selection for the upcoming matches, effectively as a fifth centre-back with Stones fit again. The dream is a first appearance. It is another thing he would certainly handle with ease.

Career Choices

"With my new club, the club were interested in me for a while and that's not only from the coach," Quansah says. "They were interested prior to his arrival. So knowing it was a sort of organizational choice and things would remain consistent with which manager was to come in ... it was easy for me to choose this path.

"There were a lot of players departing and it's consistently challenging when you lose key players. 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 talented individuals. It is requiring patience to build and we are still progressing. But if we are getting results and not losing that is a good place to start."

Leaving Childhood Club

It had to have been a difficult separation 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 Chelsea in 2023‑24 when he came on as an late replacement.

Quansah was also a part of last season'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 league, his limited playing time falling short compared to his numbers from 2023‑24 when he featured more regularly.

Professional Growth

"I've always learned off some of the best players around me at my former club and it's been so good for my professional development," he says. "But as a young centre-back, you need games 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 team like Liverpool, it's not promised because there are elite performers throughout the squad. I wanted somewhere where they can have confidence that I might make mistakes at times but they will see beyond that and see I can continue developing and pushing."

Early Experience

Quansah recalls his temporary transfer to League One Bristol Rovers in the second-half of 2022-23 where he debuted at professional level – multiple matches, to be exact. There were "multiple reality checks", he says with a grin, beginning with his first game; a heavy loss at their opponents.

"That was a genuine revelation," Quansah reflects. "It proved a extremely important part of my career because I wanted to make the next step to regular senior competition. Each match I learned something new. That's where I understood how crucial experience and match practice was. You could suggest it influenced my choice in the off-season."