Van Gaal: Fosu-Mensah can be like Schweinsteiger

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has likened Tim Fosu-Mensah to a young Bastian Schweinsteiger.

Van Gaal, who worked with the Germany captain at Bayern Munich before signing him for United in the off-season, said he could see Fosu-Mensah tracking a similar career path to Schweinsteiger in the years to come.

Schweinsteiger started his career as a right winger before becoming an influential figure in the middle of the park when Van Gaal took the reins at Bayern, going on to star for club and country in that position.

Speaking of Fosu-Mensah’s best position, Van Gaal said, “It is dependable on vacancies in your squad.

“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.

“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 starred in United’s FA Cup quarter-final replay win against West Ham, but was left out of Van Gaal’s Premier League starting XI for matches against Aston Villa and Crystal Palace.

Antonio Valencia was preferred at right-back, casting his involvement in Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final against Everton in doubt.

Schweinsteiger, on the other hand, is definitely out of the FA Cup clash as he continues to comeback from injury.