Fosu-Mensah: Why the Man Utd defender looks set for Leverkusen move

Stefan Bienkowski

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
• 3 min read

Manchester United could be on the verge of making their first sale of the January transfer window, with right-back Timothy Fosu-Mensah expected to leave the club. 

According to the Manchester Evening News, the 23-year-old defender is set to sign a contract with Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen. 

Fosu-Mensah’s contract is set to expire at the end of the season, but Leverkusen are reportedly set to offer £1.5 million to sign the defender this month. 

But why is the young defender opting to make the move from Old Trafford to the Bay Arena in the middle of the current season?

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Will Fosu-Mensah sign for Leverkusen?

While nothing has been confirmed with regards to the defender’s future just yet, Solskjaer seemed resigned to using the young player when he recently spoke on the topic. 

“I’m not sure if Timo is going to stay or [if] he’s going to take an option now,” said the Man Utd boss on Saturday. 

“He’s not played enough, so of course he’s been allowed to speak to clubs, with a view to leaving now in January. It’s difficult when you’ve got good players, talented players, and you can’t give them game time.

“He’s now at the stage where he needs to go and play again. It might be [at the] end of January, or it might be in the summer that he finds somewhere else.

“So he’s working hard, he’s ready for a move for any club that he feels ready for.”

As such, when we stick that alongside the aforementioned report, it seems certain that the young defender is on the verge of leaving Old Trafford. 

Why make the move to the Bundesliga?

While Leverkusen may not be the most popular club in Germany, they do have a long history of scouting young players and developing them into outstanding talents. 

Arturo Vidal, Heung-Min Son, Hakan Calhanoglu, Julian Brandt and most recently Kai Havertz have come through Leverkusen’s system after signing as young players, as the club enjoys a good reputation for buying low and selling high. 

It’s with this in mind that Fosu-Mensah believes a move to the German club makes perfect sense. Not only will the Dutch defender hope to pick up game time in a high-quality division, but he’ll also do so at a club that tends to prioritise young players and their development. 

There could also be a notable gap in the young defender’s favoured position this summer. At the moment Peter Bosz has three right-backs on his books – Lars Bender, Santiago Arias and Mitchell Weiser. The first is set to retire at the end of the season, the second returns to his parent club Atletico Madrid in the summer and the third was recently linked with a move away from the club this month due to a lack of game time. 

In reality, Bosz has often relied upon central defender Aleksandar Dragovic to fill in at right-back or right wing-back for much of the season and even he is set to depart the club in the summer when his own contract expires. 

In truth, Fosu-Mensah would most likely arrive at Leverkusen in January well aware of the fact that the right-back position could be his very quickly and for a considerable amount of time if he only matches the expectations placed on him. And that will surely be very appealing for the young player.