Two years after being released by Bayer Leverkusen, ex-Manchester United defender Timothy Fosu-Mensah is back in England and hopes to relaunch his career this summer
Timothy Fosu-Mensah is searching for a new club(Image: Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)
Former Manchester United defender Timothy Fosu-Mensah is training with Crystal Palace’s under-21s after spending two years as a free agent. Fosu-Mensah, 28, was released by German side Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2024 and he’s been without a club ever since.
The Dutchman was sold to Leverkusen in January 2021 for £1.75million. Fosu-Mensah made 30 first-team appearances for United under Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, having joined their academy from boyhood club Ajax as a teenager.
Now the three-time Netherlands international is back in England with Palace, where he spent a year on loan in the 2017-18 season. The Mail report that Fosu-Mensah is working with Palace’s U21 squad in a bid to regain his fitness and find a new club this summer.
Fosu-Mensah’s career has never truly recovered from the serious knee injury which he picked up in 2019 while on loan at Fulham. A month after moving to Leverkusen, he sustained another knee ligament injury which ruled him out for almost a year.
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The versatile defender was then let go after not making a single appearance for the Bundesliga club during the 2023-24 season. Speaking to the Press Association last June, Fosu-Mensah explained. “Last season was the first time in my career that I’ve spent without a team.
“At this age, it’s quite early and I think quite strange for people. I know I’ve been working hard and hard work won’t go unnoticed. That’s what I believe. If you stay at home, you do nothing and then you think, ‘Boom, okay, I’m going to go this club or that club’.
“No, that’s not how it works, that’s not my mentality. It’s definitely a fresh start and I’ve been working hard.”
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Injuries have derailed Timothy Fosu-Mensah’s career(Image: Ralf Treese/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
On his time as a free agent, the 28-year-old added. “There was a couple of situations with agents here and there, which was a bit of a mess. People were speaking on my name who I never even had contact with.
“I would say like 80 per cent of the agents who were approaching clubs and people I didn’t even know, who I didn’t even had contact with. I think that was a big mess.”
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