Premier League: Why Timothy Fosu-Mensah would excel under José Mourinho

Marcus Rashford has grabbed the headlines this season, with superb displays for Man United since bursting onto the scene in February against Midtjylland and the critics who have labelled him ‘another Macheda’ are now running out of superlatives to describe him.

But another youngster who has perhaps not been given credit where due is 18-year-old Timothy Fosu-Mensah. The youngster single-handedly kept the Tottenham attackers at bay two weeks ago, making last-ditch tackles on several occasions until he was withdrawn injured and suddenly United imploded, conceding three goals in quick succession. This is no coincidence, in all of the five games in which he has appeared in (two from the bench), United have only conceded one goal; a James Tomkins header in United’s FA Cup quarter-final replay.

In spite of Fosu-Mensah being an extremely versatile player and comfortable playing in a multitude of different positions across the back-line, many of the Old Trafford faithful, including myself, have been crying out for the former Ajax junior to be played in his best positio of defensive midfielder.

With José Mourinho set for United in the summer, questions have arisen over whether Mourinho will forsake United’s commitment to youth but one player who most definitely will be handed a significant role in Mourinho’s plans is Fosu-Mensah. The Dutch powerhouse is the epitome of Mourinho’s typical “number six”, physical, excellent with and without the ball and the ability to dominate and dictate the middle of the park. Fosu-Mensah possesses all of these qualities in abundance.

In the majority of Mourinho’s teams, he has often used the number six as a backbone. During his time at Porto he had Costinha, an elegant defensive midfielder who was often labelled ‘the glue to Portugal’s midfield,’

At Inter he had Thiago Motta, an industrious player best known for his grit and physicality in midfield.

In his two spells as Chelsea manager he had Claude Makélélé and Nemanja Matić. Both were utilized to fulfill the duty of breaking up play and rebuilding an attack.

And finally at Real Madrid he had the Spanish maestro, Xabi Alonso, who regularly chalked up over 100 passes a game, a midfielder who oozes class with everything he does.

Fosu-Mensah has drawn comparisons with Paul Pogba but I cannot help but disagree with these assertions. Both players can be labelled a box-to-box midfielder but Pogba is the more attacking-minded and technically-gifted player, whereas Fosu-Mensah has a completely differing style, happy to break up play but also loves to drive forward when the opportunity presents itself. So in that regard they cannot be compared.

Although, Fosu-Mensah is by no means the finished product, in fact he’s far from but the teenager plays with a style of play that is extremely captivating to watch. As he sprints around winning challenges, you can’t help but think of Roy Keane or even Paul Scholes. The indefatigable, Fosu-Mensah possesses a terrific ability to surge forward in an emphatic manner and exploit any open spaces, which has been a key feature in the effectiveness of U21’s counter-attacking.

Fosu-Mensah represents the future of Man United and a team must be built to accommodate the Ajax product. With the dawning of a new era under José Mourinho, Fosu-Mensah could become the cornerstone of José Mourino’s Man United team and it would not surprise me if we are looking at the future captain of Manchester United.