Speaking about Timothy Fosu-Mensah after handing him his full Man United debut against Watford in 2016, Louis van Gaal said: “I gave compliments to my players because it is not so easy to win these games because Watford pressed us very high and we gave the ball away. Because of that they had several chances.
“But Timothy has saved us three times I think because of his speed and I was very pleased he was on the pitch. I let him stay on the pitch in the second half because he was the player who always closed the door for us.
“I think he is a better full back than a central defender but he is from origin at Ajax always playing right centre midfield or right centre half. This is his position.
“But he has to play against (Watford striker) Ighalo who is a handful for a centre half. He did it fantastically and certainly when he gets a yellow card after 20 minutes then it is not so easy to play against a striker like Ighalo or Deeney. He was very good.”
Fosu-Mensah had a memorable debut in the Premier League against Watford in 2016, in which he kept his future teammate Odion Ighalo quiet. But after Van Gaal’s departure, he didn’t find much game-time under Jose Mourinho and was sent on loan multiple times.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer tried reviving his career at United by playing the Dutch defender a few times last year, but he was unable to win over a permanent role in the team. Fosu-Mensah made 30 appearances in all competitions for the Red Devils in his career and now tries to fulfil his potential in the Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen.
