Evans Timothy Fosu Fosu-Mensah (born 2 January 1998) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder,

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

or full-back for

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

club Bayer Leverkusen and the Netherlands national team. He formerly played for Dutch club Ajax's youth team and English club

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

's first team.

Club career

Manchester United

Born in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

to Ghanaian parents, Fosu-Mensah began his career with Ajax, before moving to England in 2014. Fosu-Mensah has played for Manchester United's youth teams in a variety of positions, including centre-back, right-back and central midfield. He made his professional debut at left-back on 28 February 2016, in a 3–2

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

win at home to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, coming on as a 55th-minute substitute for Marcos Rojo. On 19 October 2016, he signed a new long-term contract with Manchester United until 2020, with the option to extend for a further year.

Crystal Palace (on loan)

On 10 August 2017, Fosu-Mensah joined Crystal Palace on a season-long loan, reuniting with his former boss at Ajax,

Frank de Boer Franciscus de Boer (; born 15 May 1970) is a Dutch football manager who was most recently the head coach of the Netherlands national team. A former defender, De Boer spent most of his professional playing career with Ajax, winning five Eredi ...

. He made his debut for Palace two days later on 12 August 2017 against newly promoted Huddersfield Town, losing 3–0. Despite the defeat, Fosu-Mensah was praised for his last-minute tackle on

Steve Mounié Steve Michel Mounié (born 29 September 1994) is a Beninese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Brest, whom he captains, and the Benin national team. Club career Montpellier Mounié is a Montpellier HSC youth acade ...

, denying him a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

Fulham (on loan)

On 9 August 2018, Fosu-Mensah joined

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

on a season-long loan. He made his debut for Fulham on 18 August 2018, in a 3–1 away defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League, playing the full 90 minutes. On 13 April 2019, he suffered a knee ligament injury which saw him returning to Manchester United.

Return to United

On 27 June 2020, Fosu-Mensah made his first United senior matchday squad since 21 May 2017 as he sat on the bench for 120 minutes in an FA Cup tie against Norwich City. On 16 July 2020, Fosu-Mensah started for United against former side Crystal Palace, his first start since 21 May 2017, when he faced Palace at Selhurst Park.

Bayer Leverkusen

On 13 January 2021, Fosu-Mensah completed a transfer from Manchester United to Bayer Leverkusen. On 28 February 2021, he suffered another knee ligament injury that ended his 2020–21 season. On 15 January 2022, Fosu-Mensah made his first appearance in 321 days, coming off the bench in the second half of a 2–1 win over

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e. V. Mönchengladbach, commonly known as Borussia Mönchengladbach (), Mönchengladbach () or Gladbach (; abbreviated as Borussia MG, BMG), is a professional Association football, football club based in ...

International career

Having played at under-15, under-16, under-17 and under-19 levels for the Netherlands but also eligible for Ghana, Fosu-Mensah was rewarded for his performances for Manchester United with his first call-up to the senior team for friendlies against the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. He was also eligible to play for

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

as he qualified through his parents. He received another call-up to the Dutch senior squad on 28 August 2017, replacing the injured

Kenny Tete Kenny Joelle Tete (born 9 October 1995) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a right back for club Fulham and the Netherlands national team. Club career Ajax Tete was born in Amsterdam where he grew up and played for AFC DWS and A ...

for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

. Fosu-Mensah made his first senior appearance for the Netherlands on 31 August 2017, when he was named in the starting line-up against France in a 4–0 defeat.

Personal life

Fosu-Mensah is the brother of fellow footballers

Alfons Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...

and Paul.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Manchester United *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

: 2015–16 *

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

: 2016–17

References

External links

Profile
at ManUtd.com
Netherlands profile
at OnsOranje * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fosu-Mensah, Timothy 1998 births Living people Footballers from Amsterdam Dutch footballers Netherlands youth international footballers Netherlands international footballers Association football midfielders AFC Ajax players Manchester United F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Bayer 04 Leverkusen players Premier League players UEFA Europa League winning players Dutch expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Germany Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Germany Dutch sportspeople of Ghanaian descent