Kevin Mensah

Kevin Niclas Mensah (Danish pronunciation: [ˈkʰevin ˈne̝klæs ˈmensæ]; born 10 May 1991) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a full-back for the Danish Superliga club Brøndby IF.

Kevin Mensah
Kevin Mensah with Viborg FF in 2011
Personal information
Full name Kevin Niclas Mensah
Date of birth (1991-05-15) 15 May 1991
Place of birth Viborg, Denmark
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Forward / Full-back[1]
Club information
Current team
 Brøndby
Number 14
Youth career
1998–2003 Viborg Søndermarken IK[2]
2003–2008 FK Viborg
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2015 Viborg FF 110 (20)
2015–2017 Esbjerg fB 38 (8)
2017– Brøndby 63 (3)
National team‡
2007 Denmark U16 2 (0)
2007–2008 Denmark U17 12 (1)
2008–2009 Denmark U18 4 (2)
2009 Denmark U19 5 (1)
2010 Denmark U20 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:39, 6 February 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 12:41, 10 May 2019 (UTC)

Starting his career in Viborg FF, Mensah later moved to Esbjerg fB before joining Brøndby in 2017. Originally a forward, Mensah transitioned into a utility player while at Brøndby, starting out as a striker but later becoming a full-back due to a shortage of available players on the position. Under head coach Niels Frederiksen, Mensah has been utilised at both right and left wing-back, where his agility and attacking mentality have come to their right. In July 2019, he was appointed new vice-captain of the club.

Mensah has made appearances for various national youth teams of Denmark while at Viborg, gaining 26 total caps in which he scored four goals.

Career

Viborg FF

Mensah played his first years of youth football for Søndermarkens IK in his hometown Viborg. When he was 15 he signed with Viborg FF after being part of talent project FK Viborg.[3]

In 2008, he trained regularly with the Danish Superliga squad for Viborg FF, and on 2 May 2009, at 17 years of age, he scored his first goal for the team, in a 2–0 win over Thisted FC in the Danish second tier.[4] The day before his 18th birthday, he was permanently promoted to the first team.[5] He had previously been on trial at Premier League clubs Arsenal and Newcastle United for several laps despite his young age.[6]

On 30 June 2011, his contract with Viborg FF expired, and a few days before he went on a trial with FC Nordsjælland without this materialising in a contract offer.[7] Therefore, Mensah returned to Viborg FF to keep his physical shape straight together with former teammates. When he still had not received any offers from clubs at the beginning of the next season, he started playing as an amateur for Viborg FF. In August 2011, the club offered him a new professional contract,[8] which meant that he signed a two-year deal with the Viborg FF in October 2011.[9]

After Viborg FF reached promotion to the Superliga in 2013, Mensah signed another two-year contact extension keeping him in his hometown club until 30 June 2015.[10]

Esbjerg fB

On 2 February 2015 Esbjerg fB signed Mensah. Originally, he would transfer to Esbjerg in the summer of 2015. However, Viborg and Esbjerg reached an agreement on a transfer on the last day of the January transfer window, as Viborg had found a replacement for him in the meantime.[11]

On 2 March 2015, Mensah made his debut for Esbjerg in a Danish Superliga match against AaB, coming in as a 72nd-minute substitute for Mohammed Fellah.[12]

Brøndby IF

On 23 January 2017, Brøndby IF confirmed that they had reached an agreement with Esbjerg for the transfer of Mensah.[13]

In the last match of the 2017–18 season, Mensah suffered a torn ACL, ruling him out for seven to nine months following surgery on his knee.[14]

After making his return in February 2019, and following the departure of right back Johan Larsson to EA Guingamp, Brøndby manager Alexander Zorniger opted to move Mensah to right back to accommodate the shortage of backs in the squad, which meant that he would serve as the backup to Jens Martin Gammelby.[1] Due to Anthony Jung's poor form at left back, Mensah was utilised in this position too in the 2018–19 season with great success.[15]

In July 2019, he was appointed new vice-captain of the club.[16]

Playing style

Mensah plays the ball with both his right-foot and left-foot,[17] and has been described as a technical marvel, an elegant offensive player with a wonderful technique that makes him a crowd favorite in addition of a footspeed that makes him uncomfortable to handle for any defender.

Family

His brother Jeff Mensah also plays professional football. He holds both a Ghanaian passport and a Danish passport.

Honours

Viborg

Brøndby

References
  1. Kenneth Jensen & Andreas Arp. "Mensah er klar til omskoling: Har altid vidst, jeg vil være højre back" (in Danish). Tipsbladet. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  2. "Kevin Mensah - fra Viborg til Vestegnen med et smil". brondby.com. Brøndby IF. 12 November 2017. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  3. Viborg sikrer sig stortalent Fodboldnyt.com, 18. oktober 2006
  4. 17 årig sikrer Viborg FF sejr over TFC DR Midt/Vest 2 May 2009
  5. Mensah rykkes op i A-truppen Viborg FF – officiel site
  6. Player profile VFF.dk
  7. Kristensen, Danni (29 June 2011). "Kevin Mensah prøver sig af i Nordsjælland" (in Danish). Viborg Stifts Folkeblad. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  8. Blond, Mikael (31 August 2011). "Kevin Mensah prøver sig af i Nordsjælland" (in Danish). Bold.dk. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  9. Viborg F.F. skriver med Kevin Mensah Viborg FF, accessed 10 May 2019
  10. Helmin, Jesper (17 June 2013). "Mensah forlænger med Viborg" (in Danish). Bold.dk. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  11. Kevin Mensah skifter omgående til EfB, efb.dk, 2 Februar 2015. Accessed 10 May 2019
  12. "EFB 1-3 AaB". superstats.dk. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  13. "Kevin Mensah skifter til Brøndby IF". Brøndby IF. 23 January 2017.
  14. "Kevin Mensah ude med skade i syv måneder". dr.dk. 23 May 2019.
  15. "Brøndby-chef fik svar: Jeg er stadig bekymret". Ekstra-Bladet. 22 April 2019.
  16. Hoffskov, Ole (11 July 2019). "Kevin Mensah ny viceanfører i Brøndby IF". www.tipsbladet.dk. Tipsbladet. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  17. "Kevin Mensah". zerozerofootball.com. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  18. Rasmussen, Thomas M. (13 May 2013). "Viborg: Fantastisk og fortjent oprykning". TV 2 (in Danish). Archived from the original on 4 January 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  19. "Viborg slår Roskilde og er tilbage i Superligaen". Sjællandske Medier (in Danish). 13 May 2015. Archived from the original on 21 February 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  20. https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2018/05/10/denmark/dbu-pokalen/brondby-if/silkeborg-if-fs/2782245/
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