Why Timothy Fosu-Mensah is surplus to requirements at Manchester United

According to Daily Mail, right-back Timothy Fosu-Mensah is at the end of his contract at Old Trafford this summer.

The 22-year-old recently returned from a long injury lay off in January following a cruciate ligament surgery, and United are weighing up their options before triggering a contract extension. Fosu-Mensah sustained the injury last season and has not featured in a single game for the Red Devils this season, except for two appearances in the Premier League 2 with their under-23 side.

The Dutch full-back made his Premier League debut on the same day as Manchester United star Marcus Rashford in a 3-2 win against rivals Arsenal, back in 2016. However, both the players have had contrasting careers since then, with Rashford going on to become one of United’s key players in the current line-up.

Fosu-Mensah, on the other hand, has not had a smooth journey like his teammate and has struggled to make it to the senior team despite moving to Old Trafford youth set-up in 2014. So far, the full-back has made just 21 appearances for the Red Devils, which included loan spells at fellow Premier League side Crystal Palace and Championship outfit Fulham respectively.

Despite his young age, Fosu-Mensah managed to rack up 21 league appearances for the Eagles during his season-long loan spell in the 2017-18 campaign. The right-back, who found it difficult to make inroads into the first-team, was given a chance to prove himself with another loan spell the following year at Fulham.

However, he failed to make an impact this time, as he suffered injuries that limited him to just 13 appearances in total. With Fulham suffering relegation back to the Championship, and Mensah undergoing a cruciate rupture, the latter was forced to return to his parent club.

Since then, he was on the sidelines until making his return to action recently in January. However, things have changed quite rapidly during Mensah’s absence, with the club finally solving their right-back conundrum with the signing of Aaron Wan-Bissaka last summer.

The former Eagles player has established himself as the first-choice right-back with some rock-solid displays at the back for United. He has evolved into one of the best defensive right-backs in the Premier League this season, making him one of the first names on the teamsheet.

Meanwhile, United have Diogo Dalot as backup. The 21-year-old Portuguese has become the second-choice behind Wan-Bissaka due to the latter’s excellent displays at the back. Still, there is no denying Dalot’s talent as he has made 33 appearances for the Red Devils overall despite arriving from Porto in the summer of 2018.

Dalot has played more games than Fosu-Mensah, thus putting himself ahead of the Dutchman. With Fosu-Mensah currently third in line behind Wan-Bissaka and Dalot, it seems unnecessary of United to hold onto a player who has still failed to break into the first-team.

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Verdict

With United having enough options in the right-back role at the moment, out-of-favour man Fosu-Mensah just seems surplus to the club’s requirements. Rather than holding on to the player, the Red Devils must cash in on the Dutch full-back if they wish to improve other departments.

Hence, Manchester United should offload the youngster as soon as possible, as he clearly does not seem to be in the club’s plans at the moment.