John Mensah (born November 29, 1982) is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a defender. A center-half by choice, he is also adept at right-back and has played in both positions for the Ghana national team, also captaining the Black Stars on occasions. Mensah's physique has earned him the moniker "Rock of Gibraltar".
Born in Obuasi, Ashanti, Mensah is a product of the scouting system in Ghana. He spent the 2009–10 and 2010–11 seasons on loan at English club Sunderland in the Premier League.
Mensah was named to Ghana's squad for the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Club career Early career Born in Obuasi, Ashanti, Mensah began playing at a young age, which saw him join MBC Accra. As a teenager, Mensah then moved to Italy to join Bologna and went on to make two appearances for the side, both coming from Coppa Italia. Mensah then spent two years at Swiss side Bellinzona, where he honed his talents, and despite his lack of speed, many scouts have overlooked his talent. Mensah, nevertheless, showed great positioning and awareness.
Ahead of the 2001–02 season, Mensah returned to Italy to sign for Serie B side Genoa. He made his Genoa debut in the Copa Italia match against Treviso in the Group Stage on August 20, 2001, coming on as a second-half substitute, in a 2–1 win. A month later, on September 23, 2001, Mensah made his league debut for the club, coming on as an 86th-minute substitute, in a 3–0 win against Messina. Since making his debut for Genoa, he has found himself in and out of the starting line-up, mostly coming from the substitute bench. Mensah then scored his first goal for the club, in a 2–1 loss against Cosenza on November 11, 2001. After returning from his international commitment, he returned to the starting line-up, starting the whole game in a 0–0 draw against Messina on February 17, 2002. After missing a match due to injury, Mensah then helped the club keep four consecutive clean sheets between March 10 and April 8, 2002. He then scored his second goal for the club in a 4–3 loss against Crotone on May 5, 2002. It was not until June 2, 2002, that Mensah scored his third goal for the club in a 2–2 draw against Reggina in the last game of the season. At the end of the 2001–02 season, he went on to make 26 appearances, scoring three times in all competitions.
Chievo It was announced on 11 June 2002 that Mensah signed a permanent transfer to Chievo in summer 2002.
Having spent three months on the substitute bench since joining the club, Mensah made his debut for Chievo, starting the whole game, he helped the side keep a clean sheet in a 2–0 win against Modena on 6 October 2002. However throughout the 2002–03 season, he found that opportunities in his first team were limited. Mensah went on to make fourteen appearances in all competitions.
Having made two appearances for Chievo in the first half of the 2003–04 season, Mensah joined Modena, which was a punctuated a moderately successful three-year stint in Verona. He made his Modena debut, and played 29 minutes, due to suffering from an injury in a 2–1 win against Ancona on 8 February 2004. After spending a month on the sidelines over injury, Mensah made his return to the starting line–up, in a 2–1 loss against Reggina on 21 March 2004. At the end of the 2003–04 season, he made six appearances for Modena.
Following his loan spell at Modena came to an end, Mensah returned to Chievo ahead of the 2004–05 season. He then played in both legs against Torino in Coppa Italia, which saw Chievo lose 2–1 on aggregate. However, Mensah continued to find his first team opportunities at the club limited throughout the season. It was not until on 16 January 2005 when he made his first league appearance of the season, starting the whole game, in a 2–2 draw against Roma. Mensah was later featured in and out of the starting line–up as the season goes by. However, he was sent–off for a straight red card, in a 1–0 loss against Sampdoria on 6 March 2005. Despite this, Mensah went on to make eleven appearances in all competitions.
At the start of the 2005–06 season, Mensah was loaned out to Serie B side Cremonese. He made his Cremonese debut, starting the whole game, in a 3–1 loss against Pescara on 17 September 2005. Since making his debut for the club, Mensah quickly established himself in the starting eleven for the side. He later made fourteen appearances for the side and returned to his parent club. However, following another uneventful move to Cremonese, Mensah came to the conclusion a new stable environment was what was required to kick-start his somehow journey-man career.
Rennes
On 31 January 2006, during the winter transfer window, Mensah moved to French Ligue 1 club Rennes on loan after having played in Italy for most of his career, at the behest of their former player Philippe Redon, who brought him to fill the gap in defence caused by an injury to Abdeslam Ouaddou. Upon joining the club, he said: "In fact, I'm going into the unknown! I don't know anything about France! I just remember playing in 2001 against the French Espoirs during the U20 World Cup in Argentina. I remember that there was Cisse in front. But I did however have good advice on the level of the L1, in particular by my compatriot Mickaël Essien. I don't know many players in Rennes either. I just know that there is a good coach at the head of the team."
Mensah made his Stade Rennais debut, starting the whole game, in a 2–0 loss against Bordeaux on 11 February 2006. Since making his debut, he quickly established himself for the club, playing in the centre–back position. Mensah then helped the side keep four consecutive clean sheets between 11 March 2006 and 31 March 2006.<bt> During which, he scored his first goal for the club, in a 2–0 win against Troyes on 25 March 2006. Despite suffering from a thigh injury, Mensah made fourteen appearances and scoring once in all competitions. High-level performances in the league convinced Rennes to make the loan deal permanent in April 2006, which Mensah signed a three-year contract with the side.
However at the start of the 2006–07 season, Mensah was sidelined with a calf injury that saw him out for a month. It was not until on 9 September 2006 when he made his first appearance of the season, starting the whole game, in a 2–1 win against Sochaux. Since making his return from injury, Mensah's performance led the club's website published an article on Mensah's impact on his new team. It said, "The summary from 11 February 2006 to 28 September 2006: 18 games: 12 wins, 5 draws, 1 defeat. 12 conceded goals, 4 of them when Mensah was not on the field. Rennes conceded 0.66 goals per game with Mensah. Without Mensah Rennes had 6 games, 0 wins, 1 draw and five losses. 13 goals were conceded, making 2.66 per game." He then regained his first team place for the next seven matches before being sidelined with an injury that kept him out for two months. In November 2006, Mensah was rated the number 1 player in France France Football magazine, level with Juninho, in the 2006–07 season's "Top 100 French League players". It was not until on 14 January 2007 when Mensah returned to the starting line–up, in a 2–0 loss against Marseille. He then followed up with the next three matches by keeping three consecutive clean sheets between 24 January 2007 and 3 February 2007. After being sidelined on two more occasions later in the 2006–07 season, Mensah continued to regain his first team place, playing in the centre–back position. At the end of the 2006–07 season, he went on to make twenty–five appearances in all competitions. For his performance, Mensah finished second place behind Mario Melchiot for the club's best player of the year. Following this, it was announced on 17 May 2007 that Mensah signed a contract extension with Rennes, lasting until 2010. "I am very lucky to be able to stay one year more with such an ambitious club, especially since a lot of clubs wanted me", Mensah told L'Équipe. Rennes head coach Pierre Dréossi said, "Those who wanted to see him at another club can now forget my telephone number."
At the start of the 2007–08 season, Mensah started in the first three league matches before suffering a thigh injury that kept him out for a month. However, during a 1–0 win against Saint-Étienne on 15 August 2007, he suffered a thigh injury that kept him out for a month. It was not until on 16 September 2007 when Mensah returned to the starting line–up, starting the whole game, in a 1–0 win against FC Lorient. Since returning from injury, he regained his first team place for the rest of the 2007 despite being on two occasions. Mensah also made his European debut, starting the whole game, in a 1–1 draw against Brann on 9 November 2007. After spending a month, due to international commitment, it was not until on 16 February 2008 when he returned to the starting line–up, as Stade Rennais lose 3–1 against Lille. Mensah was later appointed as the club's captain for the rest of the 2007–08 season after being appointed by Guy Lacombe, as well as, regaining his first team place since returning from international duty. It was not until on 10 May 2008 when he scored his first goal of the season, in a 2–1 win against Toulouse. Despite missing two more matches later in the 2007–08 season,
In the summer transfer window of 2008, Mensah was linked with Portsmouth, which also looked likely to be his future destination due to strong presence of African players, along with his international teammate Sulley Muntari at the club. He was also linked with a transfer to Wigan Athletic. An enquiry from Wigan for the Ghanaian was welcomed by Rennes, with assistant coach Philippe Redon commenting it would take at least £7 million to prize the "Rock of Gibraltar" from the club. He was made Rennes' team captain in January 2008 until his exit that summer. Following his departure, Rennes head coach Guy Lacombe lamented he had hoped to keep his captain because his exit will mean a re-examination of their playing system and that, "[H]e will not go to an average club. If John leaves, he will do it only for something that one cannot propose to him here."
Lyon On 26 April 2007, it was reported in the French media that Mensah was being seriously scouted by Lyon with a view to making a move for him in that summer's transfer window. On 18 June 2008, new Lyon head coach Claude Puel made it his priority to sign Mensah to replace centre-back Sébastien Squillaci, who departed to Sevilla in La Liga. Negotiations continued for the following four weeks, and on 15 July 2008, Lyon's special adviser Bernard Lacombe contacted Mensah and negotiated a five-year contract with him. However, Rennes dismissed Lyon's initial interest. Lyon club owner Jean-Michel Aulas offered the Breton club only €6 million, a figure that did not appease Rennes general manager Pierre Dréossi. But the French media said Mensah will sign for Lyon in an €8 million transfer. On 21 July 2008, Mensah finally signed a five-year contract with Lyon in an €8.4 million transfer. He was presented to the media at 20:00 that day. During the press conference, Aulas stated Mensah was recommended to them by ex-Lyon midfielder Michael Essien. Mensah took the number 15 shirt, and became the third Ghanaian player to ever play for Lyon, after Abedi Pele and Essien.