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Football

15th Apr 2016

Former Manchester City defender remains unconvinced by Timothy Fosu-Mensah

Just a prospect

SportsJOE

While Manchester United’s Young Player of the Year award will almost certainly be handed to Marcus Rashford this season, Timothy Fosu-Mensah is making a late charge for consideration.

The 18-year-old defender has been a breath of fresh air for Manchester United fans in recent weeks with a string of impressive performances since being handed his first team opportunity by Louis van Gaal.

Fosu-Mensah was one of the stand-out performers in United’s FA Cup quarter-final replay triumph over West Ham midweek but a former Manchester City full back has poured some cold water on all of the excitement surrounding the youngster.

Port Vale v Manchester City

Danny Mills has insisted that it takes at least 50 games for a defender to be truly judged as reliable and that the Mosu-Fensah hype may be just a tad premature at the moment.

“Young players often do well for the first four or five games, then tail off a bit,” Mills told BBC 5 Live.

“Sometimes a little bit of reality kicks in, it’s whether they can do it seven to 20 games.

West Ham United v Manchester United - The Emirates FA Cup Sixth Round Replay

“You’ve never quite made it until you’ve played 50 games. It’s different as a striker, you get thrown on for 10 minutes and if you give the ball away you’re 70 yards from goal.

“If you’re a defender, you make a mistake it ends up in the goal and you can’t get back from that. He’s got a lot of potential and looks a good prospect for the future, but that’s all it is at the moment.”

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