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.

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.

[2] 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.

[6] 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.

[11] After missing a match due to injury, Mensah then helped the club keep four consecutive clean sheets between March 10 and April 8, 2002.

[15] 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.

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.

[4] 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.

[37] 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.

[55] 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.

[58] Despite missing two more matches later in the 2007–08 season,[59] 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.

[61] 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.

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.

"[63] 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.

[64] 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.

[73] Two weeks later on 30 September 2008, he made his UEFA Champions League debut, starting the whole game, in a 1–1 draw against Bayern Munich.

Lyon head coach Claude Puel insisted he should stay on the field throughout the match, only to receive a red card after a second bookable offence.

[81] A Le Havre fan, who racially abused Mensah, was later charged for making racist insults after being arrested by the police and was released on bail.

[83] In the last match of the Ligue 1 season, Mensah once again received a red card after a second bookable offence when he made a dangerous tackle on André-Pierre Gignac in 0–0 draw against Toulouse.

[84] The 2008–09 season saw Lyon ended its seven-year streak of winning the Ligue 1 championship, placing third behind champions Bordeaux and second-placed Marseille.

[86] Six days later on 21 August 2009, Mensah successfully passed his medical and, one week later, was awarded his work permit by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, officially completing the move.

[88] He then made his full debut in the League Cup match, winning 2–0 over Birmingham City on 22 September and even managed to put the ball in the net, although it was disallowed for a foul on Blues goalkeeper Maik Taylor.

[101] However, during a match against Bolton Wanderers on 18 December 2010, Mensah suffered an injury in the 21st minute, leading him to be substituted and was sidelined for a month.

[104] But on 9 April 2011, Mensah suffered a Grade Two adductor tear just 11 minutes into Saturday's 3–2 home defeat by West Bromwich Albion, casting doubt on his future at Sunderland.

However, Sunderland manager Steve Bruce opted not to sign Mensah permanently because of his persistent injury problems, therefore returning to his parent club, Olympique Lyon.

[140] Ghana's head coach at the World Cup, Ratomir Dujković, would later cite Mensah for high commendations after the tournament.

[148] Mensah captained Ghana for the first time in the tournament, starting the whole game and helped the national side win 1–0 against Serbia.

[151] In December 2011, Mensah was named to the Ghana's squad for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, which was co-hosted by Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

[153] After serving a one match suspension, he didn't return until on 5 February 2012 when Mensah scored his second goal of the tournament, in a 2–1 win against Tunisia.