Fosu-Mensah Gets End-of-season Boost

Tim Fosu-Mensah was delighted to be part of Manchester United's UEFA Europa League final squad after recovering from a shoulder injury just in time.

There had been concern the 19-year-old would miss the rest of the campaign when he landed awkwardly at the end of the goalless draw with Manchester City on 27 April. 

But Fosu-Mensah was fit enough to play in the last Premier League game of the season against Crystal Palace at right-back, and he was subsequently given a spot on the bench in Stockholm by Jose Mourinho.

The Reds overcame the Dutchman's former club Ajax in the final, triumphing 2-0 with goals by Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, and after joining his team-mates in dedicating the victory to the victims of the Manchester terror attack - "I think this is for them" - Fosu-Mensah spoke to ManUtd.com about the win.

"Playing against Ajax, where I spent eight years as a kid and still know a lot of the boys, we had to do it," said the defender, during our interview in the post-match media zone.

"Fortunately, I could be in the squad for the final, after playing 90 minutes last Sunday, and it's the best feeling I could have. You don't want the season to end when you get the taste of it but this is the best way to have ended the season, with a trophy and Champions League football to look forward to next season."

Fosu-Mensah is determined to ensure he is 100 per cent ready for the new campaign and has not even planned any holidays yet.

"I still need to book them but the most important thing is to work on my shoulder and get it stronger," he added. "The physios worked hard and I decided not to have an operation because of the final. We did a good job with the physios working hard on it and that's what we're going to do in the summer too."