Teden Mengi ‘has been brilliant’ in his breakthrough Premier league campaign with the former Manchester United youngster making quite the impression at newly-promoted Luton Town.
While Anthony Elanga goes from strength-to-strength at Nottingham Forest – outshining those who kept him out of Erik ten Hag’s XI at Old Trafford – Teden Mengi is doing something similar under Rob Edwards in the heart of Luton Town’s brick-built backline.
With Raphael Varane out of favour, Jonny Evans injured, Lisandro Martinez yet to return and Victor Lindelof, well, Victor Lindelof, 21-year-old Mengi could have come in very handy at Manchester United this season.
Instead, the Manchester-born centre-half is flourishing away from Old Trafford goldfish bowl, threatening to become a big fish in the relatively small and rustic Kenilworth Road pond.
Manchester United let Teden Mengi leave for Luton
Luton took a gamble on a player who had endured his fair share of injury issues. But that risk is now being rewarded with a series of stand-out performances from one of the top-flight’s breakout talents.
“We really believed in him. That’s why we brought him to the football club,” Edwards tells Luton Today.
“He’s not fazed by anything. I know he got the goal (vs Palace), so that always brings a few more headlines around him. But his all-round performance was brilliant. Brilliant. His desire to defend, his duels…
“He’s getting better week on week.”
Mengi, who had never played Premier League football before this term, has taken to life at Luton like the proverbial duck to water. He was particularly imperious in the 1-1 draw against Liverpool before opening his PL account versus Crystal Palace.
Given his age, his potential and his ‘homegrown’ status, how much would Luton bring in if they decided to cash in on Mengi next summer? £20 – £30 million? More?
‘He’s been brilliant’
Edwards is understandably keen to keep the expectation in check but, if Ten Hag could turn back the clock, we’d be very interested to see if he would make a different decision on Mengi’s future knowing what he knows now.
“I don’t want to put too much pressure on him as he’s a young player still and I think it’s important we all recognise, like all of us, we’re going to have ups and downs,” Edwards adds. “But his level at the moment has been brilliant.
“We’re really, really pleased with him.”
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