I still maintain. He is not a once in a generation sort of gifted player like a Verratti or Pogba level talent, he is a tactically smart, hardworking midfielder who is admittedly VERY good at what he does. However, 'what he does' is something that is easier to find than say a new Scholes. He is not a genius of a midfielder.
Mourinho may or may not play Fosu Mensah. I do believe that overlooking him as a starting position is just age discrimination though. People keep saying how young and untested he is, but the reality is, he has actually shown that he can play at first team level already. He hasn't shown it for a whole year, but maybe if we don't go and buy a player who is basically an older version of him - he can do.
Again, I am never one for blindly playing kids, but the role Kante has performed has been replicated by others who are not special players in great teams too, those players are not 'must sign' for top clubs. I've seen players like Darren Fletcher or even Philip fecking Neville come into our midfield at stages and chase, win balls and be considered amongst our best performers. They were no Scholes of course, but Kante is closer to them than he is to Scholes too.
I am basing my assessment of Fosu Mensah on what I have seen him do in the United first team already. That is tireless running, speed of transition from defence to attack by driving with the ball, winning majority of the tackles he goes in for. These are the things Kante will be bought to do, and I'm not proposing to play someone who has only shown it at reserve level. Anyone who follows my posts will know I'm quite dismissive of the clamour for James Wilson to be out in the first team mix, largely because he's done nowhere near enough for the first team to be given chances, and it all comes from reserve form against many footballers who will not make it at the top themselves. Fosu Mensah has been amongst our best players in his cameos, and the role of breaking up play and tackling is not one that requires an expensive top signing by default for a top side. This is no slight against Kante, but there have been many of his kind before him and most title winning sides in various leagues will continue to have a version. Majority of them will not have been amongst that teams glamorous signings, some will have been picked up for £500k or so. Flamini did similar for Arsenal first time around. He left and subsequently showed he was not necessarily a great footballer, but he was good enough at what he does in that Arsenal team to be a key member, as was Coquelin when he got in.
No reason, in my books, that Mensah cannot do similarly. Based on his 8 or 10 games for us so far, I think the best reason anyone would come up with for him not being included is 'he's 18'. That isn't good enough for me. He's already good enough to play for us, and will likely get better from here with investment in him. We have others like Schneiderlein who can rotate with him, we don't need Kante.
