Bryan Mbeumo has revealed the reason for his fantastic shrug celebration after scoring against Liverpool, after some thought he may have been copying Mo Salah.
Bryan Mbeumo has had a fantastic start to life at Manchester United, having collected three goals and one assist so far, although his impact has been far more than just goal contributions.
The Cameroon international signed for United from Brentford for an initial £65 million fee that rises to £71 million with add-ons, and has been brilliant during his opening few months at the club.
His three goals for United have been to get them back into the game against Grimsby after a 2-0 deficit, to put them back ahead against Burnley, and to open the scoring against Anfield, while his one assist was for Mason Mount’s opening goal against Sunderland.
He also played very well on his debut against Arsenal and played a major part in Davinson Sanchez being sent off against Chelsea, when United went on to score two goals and win the tie.
Mbeumo reveals celebration reason vs Liverpool
Mbeumo’s latest goal for United is his best yet, with the 26-year-old speeding past Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konaté to latch on to the end of a clever Amad pass and finish the first time of asking from a tight angle on his weak foot.
The United winger then wheeled away in front of the Kop end with his arms outstretched just 72 seconds into the game, which many thought may be in retaliation to Mohammed Salah, who has done such a celebration at Old Trafford in the reverse fixture on far too many occasions.
However, speaking to United’s media, Mbeumo has confirmed that his open-arms celebration was not a dig at Salah or aimed toward Liverpool fans, but instead an ode to one of his teammates in Cameroon.
Mbeumo scored for his national side the week before the Liverpool game during a 2-0 win over Mauritius, and explained that his celeration at Anfield was compensating for not being able to do something similar while with Cameroon earlier this month.
When asked what the reason for the celebration was, Mbeumo said, “No, that was kind of a thing I had with a national team player.
“And obviously, if we were scoring with Cameroon together, we would have done it. But I decided to do it there. I might keep it as well!”
Mbeumo may be United’s safest transfer in a decade
Over the years, Manchester United have spent at least £65 million on a host of players, but many of these transfers have not panned out as they had hoped.
Rasmus Højlund, Romelu Lukaku, Antony, Harry Maguire, Jadon Sancho, and Paul Pogba all joined for fees higher than Mbeumo in the last ten years, while his new teammate Benjamin Šeško’s move was also an initial £1 million higher.
Bar Šeško and Maguire, none of those mentioned above are in Rúben Amorim’s current squad, as they failed to live up to expectations at United. However, Mbeumo’s move to Old Trafford feels different.
The 26-year-old has spent over five seasons in the Premier League now, and most of United’s faithful would agree that the Cameroon international’s chances of breaking the mould of high-value players who have joined United and succeeded are higher than any other on the list of United’s top 20 most expensive transfers.
Mbeumo may be the safest signing from another Premier League side the club has made since bringing in Robin van Persie from Arsenal in 2012, as he has all the tools and experience to succeed. But, as the saying goes, only time will tell.
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