According to latest reports, Crystal Palace are now eyeing a move for Manchester United’s Timothy Fosu-Mensah as new manager Frank De Boer searches for the last piece of his three-man defence. With Manchester United adding yet another defender this summer in Victor Lindelof, Mensah’s chances of breaking into the first team remain a distant possibility and manager Jose Mourinho could do with him on loan.
Crystal Palace have been chasing Arsenal’s Calum Chambers for some time now with a deal of around £20 million finalized between the sides for the 21-year-old, but with Mensah available, De Boer has reportedly frozen Chambers’ deal for now. 19-year-old Mensah had the Dutch boss as his mentor at his boyhood club AFC Ajax during his yesteryears and De Boer believes he can help him massively next season.
Though the defensive midfielder, who can also play anywhere in the defensive third, has lesser experience compared to Chambers, who has played at the top level while at Arsenal, Mensah’s vibrancy in at the back has been very convincing for both Mourinho and De Boer.
Palace have taken a big gamble by bringing in the Dutch boss after Sam Allardyce left the club following his short and productive stint at Selhurst Park. Boer’s previous campaign with Inter Milan ended in a disaster with Italian media questioning his tactics. However, that hasn’t stopped him from imposing it upon the Eagles’ squad as he sees Scott Dann and Jairo Riedewald as his prime choices in his three-man defence with Mensah as the third option.
Palace have been one of the quieter sides in the Premier League last summer, mostly because of their aggressive buy in last winter. De Boer believes he has a more or less strong side to compete with defence being the only weak link. Their failure to retain Mamadou Sakho was a huge blow as Liverpool don’t want to hand him on loan and are demanding whopping £30 million for a permanent deal.
Mensah, although not a like-for-like alternative for the towering Frenchman, could be a good addition to any squad, given his brilliant game reading abilities and quick movements. Although United’s deep back line meant he hardly managed to get a break into the senior squad, their long injury last season did help him start from the bench occasionally.
However, he got a start in United’s last game of the season against Palace as Mourinho opted to rest his first team players ahead of the Europa League final. He starred in it helping United win 2-0.
