John Mensah

John Mensah (born November 29, 1982) is a former Ghanaian professional footballer who last played as a defender for AFC United in the Swedish second-tier.

Born in Obuasi, Ashanti, Mensah is a product of the scouting system in Ghana, which identifies talented youngsters long before they enter any formal structures and exports them to potential fame and fortune in Europe.

A center-half by choice, he is also adept at right-back and has played in both positions for his national side, also captaining the team on occasions.

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.

At the end of the 2001–02 season, he went on to make 26 appearances, scoring three times in all competitions.

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.

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.

At the end of the 2003–04 season, he made six appearances for Modena.

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.

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.

His physique has earned him the moniker "Rock of Gibraltar", and Mensah was considered a certainty to be named to Ghana's squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

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.

He spent the 2009–10 and 2010–11 seasons on loan at English club Sunderland in the Premier League.

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.