JOHN Mensah already has the right nickname for the job and the Ghana international intends to become a pillar of strength in Sunderland’s defence following his move to the Stadium of Light.

Mensah gave up Champions League football at Lyon to sign for Steve Bruce’s Black Cats.

And the versatile defender is relishing the opportunity to play in English football and continue the mission which God has given him.

And a player called the Rock of Gibraltar in his homeland is confident that he has come to a team which is on the rise after he was convinced by Bruce of the club’s vast potential.

“The Rock used to be called the pillar of Hercules,” explained Mensah, whose move to England from France was delayed until last week as he waited for clearance to enter the country.

“It’s between Spain and Morocco and my godfather gave me this name, the Rock of Gibraltar.

“He sees how I played my football and he has followed my movement, every movement, every match I played, he gave me this name. He is Reverend Joseph Koshi from my methodist church in Ghana. I’m big on Christianity.

“He always gave me this name, when he gave me it he promised me that we would make it to the World Cup in 2006, he promised me that as soon as I played for my country. Thank God we did qualify.

“He also promised me that we would qualify for the 2010 World Cup and we did. I thank God for that.

“I spoke to him when I was about to leave for England and he told me there’d be no problems.

“He said: ‘Wherever you go, God will always be with you’. He

has promised me something about Sunderland, but that’s a secret. He will always be praying for the team while I’m playing.”

Mensah’s journey from Obuasi to Sunderland has been a long one.

He had a spell with Bellinzona in Switzerland, as well as Bologna, Genoa, Chievo Verona, Modena and Cremonese in Italy, before he moved to France with Stade Rennais and eventually champions Lyon.

The 26-year-old, who captains his country, has initially moved on loan to Sunderland.

However, it is a move that he would like to make permanent as he is determined to prove himself in the fast and physical world of the Premier League.

He said: “I’m excited to be here. I have arrived from a big team to another big team, Sunderland have great potential and have some great players.

“I’m not worried about turning my back on Champions League football with Lyon. All of this squad are playing well and they have some very good players.

“I can see from the bench that we have a strong squad, so I hope if we can continue in this way we will climb even higher in the league.

“I can’t predict whether we will do this or that, but I’m sure with this squad we can get even higher than where we are.”

And, although he was happy in France and enjoyed the style of football in Ligue 1, Mensah – who is line to start at right-back against Burnley on Saturday as Phil Bardsley has a knee injury – found the lure of the Premier League was too strong to turn down Sunderland’s advances.

He added: “My agent spoke to me a lot about the English Premier League. I used to watch it a lot on the television, so it was not all about talking to other players about it.

“I have played for many teams in Europe, I’ve played at the World Cup, so it’s good for me to get used to playing different styles.

“This league is special, it’s the most competitive league in the world and it is spread around the world. Every team runs fast, it’s physical and the mentality of the game is faster than the rest. This is my first time in England but I’m sure I will get used to it.”

It can often take African players months, if not years, to fully acclimatise to English conditions, but having left Ghana when was just 17, Mensah does not worry about adjusting.

He said: “This is my first week in England and I’m told it will get colder, but I used to play in Switzerland, Italy and France and it got cold. I just want to play. I’m a centre-back, but I can play anywhere. I prefer to play there but I’m happy to help the team. I play for the interests of the team.”