Netherlands boss Danny Blind has expressed his disappointment after having to drop Timothy Fosu-Mensah from his Netherlands squad for fitness reasons.
- By Michael Bell
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The 18-year-old burst into the Manchester United first team in the last few months of the season, and his good form earned him a place in the provisional Netherlands squad named two weeks ago.
However, Blind finalised his squad for the friendlies with Republic of Ireland, Poland and Austria on Wednesday and Fosu-Mensah was among the players dropped.
Blind explained to Ons Oranje that he was looking forward to seeing the young defender in action, but he was not fit enough to be named in the squad.
He said, “Timothy is eighteen. There’s a lot come down on him in recent weeks. The reward for this was a place on the shortlist. I wanted him in the final selection, but you have to be fit. And he’s not one hundred percent fit at the moment.
“That’s too bad. I wanted to see him, but I hope I can still see him at work after the summer.”
This news will be welcomed in Ghana, who are still hopeful of persuading Fosu-Mensah to walk away from Netherlands and represent the nation of his parents.