Louis van Gaal has yet to determine the best position for Tim Fosu-Mensah and admits the Manchester United youngster could emulate Bastian Schweinsteiger’s switch at Bayern Munich.
United fans who have followed the Dutch defender’s rise through the ranks will have seen him excel in the centre-back, full-back and central midfield positions during spells for the Under-18s, Under-21s and most recently the first team.
When asked during Thursday’s press conference whether Fosu-Mensah’s future could be in midfield, the manager said the options are still open for the 18-year-old and recalled how he nurtured and converted a young Schweinsteiger when he was Bayern boss.
“It is dependable on vacancies in your squad,” declared van Gaal. “You have seen that players in my squad are playing in different positions than what they are used to in their former careers. It is also a little bit of luck.
When there is a vacancy and you think a young player has the quality to play there, you give him the chance. If he takes the chance then that makes him already mentally a good player.
“You cannot say that a player is [just] a full-back. You can see qualities and you make a profile of positions and then you look at the qualities of a player and see if he can fit that. Can he do that, can he perform that? Maybe he shall perform it and then he sticks to that position and then he is the best of all.
“You can ask Bastian Schweinsteiger who, at Bayern Munich, played on the right side, the right wing. I made him a centre midfielder because I looked at his profile and I thought that he can better play in the middle and he enjoys it more than on the right side. I have changed a lot of positions of players.”
Fosu-Mensah is just one of a number of young Reds who have impressed for the senior side this term, with Marcus Rashford being the one who has grabbed the headlines with seven goals in 13 games. Van Gaal reminded us of his track record of giving chances to budding players throughout his career.
“I have had that in all my clubs because I give youngsters the chance to do that,” he insisted. “My first club was AZ Alkmaar and I was trainer-coach of the second team, I then played with five players from my second team when I was first-team coach.
“At Ajax I had Patrick Kluivert, at 18, who made the same performance as Marcus Rashford. So, I can give a lot of examples of that, it is not new! At Bayern Munich it was Thomas Muller and in Barcelona Xavi was 18 and Iniesta 17. Motta was also 17 and he is now at Paris Saint Germain. It is not strange.
“The big issue is not age. It is quality.”
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Fosu-Mensah Could Follow Schweinsteiger
