Jarell Quansah eager to ‘keep progressing’ as Leverkusen player eyes England bow | OneFootball

Jarell Quansah hopes leaving Liverpool for Bayer Leverkusen will fast-track his development – and that his long-awaited England debut goes far better than his “eye-opening” first senior appearance.

The 22-year-old has yet to make his international bow despite being called-up to Gareth Southgate’s provisional Euro 2024 squad 16 months ago, then being selected by Lee Carsley, as interim boss, and Thomas Tuchel.

Quansah has played a part in every camp since the German took over apart from in June, when the centre-back instead helped England win the Under-21 European Championship.

A long-mooted £35million move from Liverpool, where he came through the youth system, followed quickly after the final as he left the Premier League champions in search of regular football.

“I just wanted to keep progressing,” uncapped Quansah said. “As a young centre-back, you need games to improve.

“I’ve always been learning off some of the best players around me at the time at Liverpool, and being able to do that has been so good for my career.

“I’m 22, turning 23 (in January), I’m going to be needing hundreds of games to be where I want to be at the end of the day.

“I think overall that’s just why the decision was made and why I thought going abroad was best for me.”

Quansah wants to regularly play Champions League football and test himself at the highest level as the ambitious defender seeks to build on winning the Under-21 Euros.

That triumph in Slovakia – where he also won the Under-19 Euros in 2022 – was “massive from a confidence point of view” for a player who took his first steps in senior football at Bristol Rovers.

Quansah joined Joey Barton’s League One side for the second half the 2022-23 season, when his loan began with a chastening 5-1 loss at Morecambe.

“A true eye-opener,” he said with a laugh. “It was a very interesting match because generally the feeling of the team was we thought we were actually OK.

“But I feel like we conceded five shots and it was five goals. It was one of those games, so seeing that that can happen in a game of football was eye-opening.

“But hopefully (when I make my England debut) it will be better than that!”

Quansah still keeps in touch with some former Rovers team-mates, some of whom he has gone on holiday with, and reflects fondly on that crucial loan.

“Numerous wake-up calls,” he said of that 16-game stint. “It was a really, really valuable part of my career.

“I remember coming away and every game I’d learned something new. And probably the first time in my career up until that point where I’d thought that.