Tim Fosu-Mensah is the latest member of Manchester United's first-team squad to feature in UTD Podcast and it's another fascinating listen, not least when he tells us about his chats with Donny van de Beek ahead of the midfielder's summer move to Old Trafford.
The defender also spoke to our podcast hosts Helen Evans, Sam Homewood and David May about breaking through at United, making his debut under Louis van Gaal and much more, in an episode that was released on all the usual streaming platforms at 17:00 GMT on Monday 7 December.
When asked about the arrival of van de Beek, his fellow Dutchman, Fosu-Mensah explained how both of them played in the Ajax Academy before Donny eventually followed Tim in moving to Manchester.
“It feels good,”
said Tim, on being joined by Donny at the club.
“It’s special also because we’ve seen each other since we were so small, growing up and then I left when I was 16. He was still at Ajax but we always had good contact with each other.
“When I left for United, I still played for the national youth teams in the Netherlands, the Under-17s, Under-18s, Under-19s, Under-21s, and he was always there. So it’s very special to see him now at Manchester United.”
Fosu-Mensah thinks our new no.34 is settling in well and that this is only the beginning for his friend.
“He’s a good player, a player with a lot of qualities and I think he’s also a good guy so he’ll bring a lot of positive things to the club,”said Tim.
Our Dutch defender also revealed that he knew about Donny's transfer before it was announced, as the two friends were speaking on the phone during the summer. Although he won't claim to be any kind of agent in the deal, he did encourage his compatriot to sign for the Reds.
“I told him United is a big club, if not the biggest club,”
revealed Fosu-Mensah. “I said it's good if you have the opportunity to come here. We have got very good team-mates, the quality is very good here.
“I said, 'It’s up to you because I can’t make the decision for you but it’s a very good club.' At the end of the day it was his decision.”
Tim Fosu-Mensah's UTD Podcast is available to stream or download here. You can find previous episodes, video clips and stories at manutd.com/podcast.