Timothy Fosu-Mensah explains decision to leave Manchester United for Bayer Leverkusen
Fosu-Mensah joined Leverkusen in €2m deal last month
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Timothy Fosu-Mensah has said that it was his decision to leave Manchester United in search of regular first-team football, having joined Bayer Leverkusen during the January transfer window.
Fosu-Mensah left Old Trafford in a €2m (£1.75m) deal despite having fought his way back into Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first-team squad, following two separate loan spells and a serious knee injury.
The Netherlands international’s Old Trafford contract was set to expire this summer and, despite talk of a potential new deal, he came to the conclusion that he should look for regular playing time elsewhere.
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“Yes, it was my decision,” he said.
“It was difficult because I ruptured my ACL after my loan spell at Fulham. I was out for a long time. I came back, Solskjaer gave me the minutes, they triggered the option in my contract.
“Solskjaer's been good to me but at the end I was not playing a lot and obviously, when you're 22, 23, 24 you need to be playing.
“I didn’t play much and I wanted to play, and I think it was the best decision in the end for me to go somewhere else where I would get more minutes.”
Fosu-Mensah paid tribute to Solskjaer for standing by him during his long spell on the sidelines and for giving him the chance to resurrect his United career once his recovery was complete.
The 23-year-old made a surprise return to United’s starting line-up at the end of last season, making his first appearance in three years and playing the full 90 minutes in a 2-0 win at Crystal Palace in July.
“The club United and the manager Solskjaer have been good to me because I came from a big injury, I recovered there, they helped me with my recovery, they gave me my minutes,” he said.
“I had minutes in the FA Cup semi-final, the Europa League semi-final, so they've been good to me.
“I spoke with [Solskjaer] because he had a big injury as a player, so he knew exactly what I felt as a player. The time out, it can be frustrating because the thing you love to do is play football. He knew my situation and we were managing the situation very well.
“When I played against Crystal Palace, 90 minutes after sixteen months [out injured] I think it was, he was very happy for me. I could see it and he told me also, so these were very good moments.
“What I learned from him also is being positive, enjoy the game, believe in yourself and believe in your qualities. He has always been good to me. He knows I have the quality, so I have no bad things to say about him because he has been very good to me.”
Fosu-Mensah played another nine times for United, and started their first game of the new Premier League season, before deciding to seek more opportunities elsewhere in the hope of winning back a place in the Frank de Boer’s Netherlands national team.
“I think for me it's important to play football regularly and to get my opportunity in the national team as well,” he said. “At a club like Bayer Leverkusen, it's a nice club with tradition, good people and good players. I think it can only be good for me.”
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