Fosu-Mensah Thanks His United Colleagues

Tim Fosu-Mensah has thanked his Manchester United colleagues for helping him make a smooth start to life in the first team.

The 18-year-old was thrust into the spotlight when coming off the bench during the entertaining 3-2 win against Arsenal due to an injury to Marcos Rojo. The Netherlands Under-19 international also appeared as a substitute in the derby victory over Manchester City to register his fourth appearance for Louis van Gaal's side.

After receiving positive feedback for his contribution, the versatile defender was clearly delighted to handle the big occasion against the Gunners with such maturity.

"I was overwhelmed, very overwhelmed when I came on," he told ManUtd.com in an exclusive interview. "When I was sat on the bench, I was more nervous than when I had to play football itself for the first time. Thankfully, the players around me helped me very much. Michael Carrick, Daley Blind and Guillermo Varela really helped me to play well and do what I had to do.

"After the game, Carrick came up to me plus Memphis and Blind. The manager also came to me and congratulated me. Ryan Giggs as well. Everyone told me I’d done well and it was very pleasing for me."

A few days later, Fosu-Mensah was handed his full debut and played the whole 90 minutes at centre-half against Watford in a 1-0 victory.

"It was my first start but I think, as I’ve said, the players around me helped me out," he added. "For a young boy of 18 to be put in the team for such a big game shows confidence from the manager in me. So I wanted to pay that back with a good performance.

"Obviously, I will keep working hard. As a young player, you have to do that and keep listening to all the advice from the manager and coaches, especially if you want to play more games. And when the chance comes, you have to play well and make the most of it. I’m happy but, as I’ve said, I think I have to keep my head down and keeping working on my game."