Timothy Fosu-Mensah believes hard work will pay off in long bid to find new club
The Ajax youth product made his breakthrough at Old Trafford, where he graduated from the academy and made 30 first-team appearances – a figure that would have been higher were it not for loans and injury.
Fosu-Mensah suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury during a spell at Fulham in 2019, with another following in February 2021 on just his seventh league appearance for new club Bayer Leverkusen.
Such issues, thankfully, seem in the past and now the 27-year-old is looking to kickstart his career after spending a season as a free agent.
'Last season was the first time in my career that I've spent without a team,' Fosu-Mensah told PA. '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, OK, 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.'
Fosu-Mensah's last competitive appearance came in April 2023 but he does not believe he will struggle to make a comeback, pointing to others forced out of the game for different reasons as well as his fitness regime.
In fact, he feels as strong as ever, mentally and physically, after leaving Bayer without making an appearance during their title-winning 2023-24 season.
Fosu-Mensah was on the bench a handful of times and fit for all but three weeks of that campaign, with more jarring issues following last summer's release.
'There was a couple of situations with agents here and there, which was a bit of a mess,' he said. '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.'
There were some talks during the winter about moving to the Championship – 'some of them I was aware of, some of them I wasn't,' he admitted – before a beneficial five months with Ajax.
Timothy Fosu-Mensah (right) made 30 appearances for Manchester United (Martin Rickett/PA)
Fosu-Mensah has followed that training time with their reserves and first team, including some behind-closed-doors games, with daily summer workouts as he seeks a return.
The 27-year-old spoke after one such session alongside Brian Brobbey and Steven Bergwijn from his home in the Netherlands, where a framed United shirt reading 'Fosu-Mensah 51' takes pride of place.
'I'll always be a fan of United,' Fosu-Mensah said. 'Always. I came there when I was 16, I left when I was 23. I've had many nice moments, won a couple of trophies, especially in my first season.
'We all know United, we all know the history of United, we all know what United stands for.
'Even this last season the Premier League was difficult for them but they reached the Europa League final, so it's something in the DNA of the club that they always want to win trophies.
'I have analysed the manager (Ruben Amorim) and I have seen a little bit how he plays and what he wants from his players.
'Jeremiah St Juste from Sporting Lisbon is a good friend of mine and he had great words for the manager, so I'm positive that United brought in a good manager.'
Fosu-Mensah hopes 'good things will happen to the club and to the players' next season, including Marcus Rashford having made his Premier League debut alongside him against Arsenal in February 2016.
'I just want him to be happy,' he added. 'Everybody just wants him to be happy.
'The most important things is for him to feel good, for him to feel happy. Look, the quality is definitely there. Nobody needs to say anything about this quality, because he's a top player.'
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