Jonathan Mensah

Jonathan Mensah (born 13 July 1990), commonly known simply as Jonathan, is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Major League Soccer club New England Revolution.

He previously played for Ashanti Gold, Free State Stars, Granada, Evian, Anzhi Makhachkala, Columbus Crew and San Jose Earthquakes.

Jonathan has represented the Ghana national team at two World Cups.

To avoid confusion with the similarly named but unrelated John Mensah, he is typically known as and plays with the name "Jonathan" on his shirt.

Born in Accra, Jonathan began his professional career in his native Ghana with Ashanti Gold, but departed after one season to join Free State Stars in South Africa.

After 40 appearances for his new club, he headed to Europe for the first time in his career, signing with Italian club Udinese.

Jonathan never actually played for Udinese, instead spending eighteen months on loan at Granada and appearing 15 times for the Spanish team.

After coming through the academy setup at Ashanti Gold, Jonathan was handed his professional debut for the club by head coach David Duncan during the 2007–08 Ghana Premier League season.

At just 17 years of age, he played 29 times for 'AshGold' and scored two goals in his lone season with the senior team.

Jonathan joined South African club Free State Stars in September 2008, moving to Ea Lla Koto alongside his 'AshGold' teammate David Telfer.

At international level, Jonathan helped Ghana to championships at the 2009 African Youth Championship and the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

He scored his inaugural goal for the club on 10 January 2009, as part of a 3–2 victory over AmaZulu, and went on to make 26 appearances on the year.

At the end of the season, Jonathan received a trial with Greek club Panathinaikos; he was "reported to have done well," but could not sign for the team since they had exhausted their quota of foreign players.

He turned down offers from other Greek clubs to go on trial, and instead returned to South Africa.

Although Jonathan missed most of the start of the 2009–10 season while with the Ghana U20s, he was reinstated to the starting lineup following his return to Free State Stars.

His second goal for the club was scored on 4 November 2009, a ninetieth-minute match winner against AmaZulu.

Jonathan appeared fourteen times before the winter break, but Ea Lla Koto struggled in those games, winning just three of those fourteen when he was in the squad.

His play at the U20 World Cup earned him his first senior call-up ahead of the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, where he helped the Black Stars finish as runners-up.

Jonathan appeared for Ghana at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, and was a part of the squads that reached the semifinals at five consecutive Africa Cup of Nations.

Jonathan received interest from multiple European clubs ahead of the January 2010 transfer window, notably Serie A club Udinese and Bordeaux of Ligue 1.

Both clubs submitted offers to Free State Stars, but it was Udinese who brought the player in for a medical in late December, ahead of the opening of the transfer window on 1 January.

With the opening of the Italian transfer window, Jonathan officially became an Udinese player on 1 January 2010; he signed a three-year contract with the Serie A club.

With the move, Jonathan united with his national teammate Kwadwo Asamoah, who entered his third season in Udine.

However, before he had even arrived at Udinese, it was rumored that Jonathan was to be immediately loaned out, with Udinese's feeder club Granada the apparent destination.

Jonathan's first loan spell at Granada expired ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, with rumours swirling that he would be sold ahead of the beginning of the tournament.

In Italy, both Juventus and Lazio registered interest in the player, while reports from his native country suggested that Premier League clubs Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur would pursue a transfer.

Following his performance in South Africa, interest also came from Olympique Lyonnais and Newcastle United.

However, Udinese opted against a sale and instead sent Jonathan back on loan to Granada.

In January 2010, after joining Udinese, Jonathan moved on loan to Spanish club Granada.

The initial loan to the Segunda División B side was for six months, in order to get him regular playing time; it was also necessary because Udinese already had hit their quota of foreign players, and were unable to register Jonathan in the squad.

However, he did not feature in a match for Granada during that initial loan.

He then moved again, joining newly promoted Ligue 1 club Evian ahead of the 2011–12 season.

Jonathan found playing time to be fleeting in France, appearing in only 60 games in five seasons.

In June 2011, Jonathan returned from loan in Spain, saying "I think I will have to prove to the coach that I can [win a place] and remain in the team."

However, he was later quoted by the Ghana Football Association as saying "Udinese have been very good to me and I am very happy to be at this club. Football can be a strange workplace, though, and you can move any time two clubs agree terms," as he was rumored to have transfer interest from France.

He would agree a move to Evian in July, ending his eighteen-month spell with Udinese having never appeared for the club.

After departing Evian in early 2016, he signed on with Anzhi Makhachkala in Russia, helping the club to avoid relegation in his first season.

He left Anzhi after just 19 appearances, however, joining his Ghanaian compatriot Harrison Afful at Columbus Crew SC.

He became the fifth Designated Player in Crew SC history.

He captained his nation for the first time in a World Cup qualifier against Congo on 5 September 2017.