Manchester United are still trying to sign Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford this summer in time for their flight out to the United States for the pre-season tour.
Manchester United remain in pursuit of Brentford forward Bryan Mbeumo, with negotiations ongoing for over a month as the club looks to secure its third signing of the summer, following the arrivals of Matheus Cunha and Diego Leon.
Ruben Amorim is eager to further strengthen his attacking options, but talks with Brentford have been progressing at a slow pace.
United’s opening offer in early June—£45 million plus £10 million in add-ons—was turned down, as was an improved bid of £55 million with a further £7.5 million in performance-related bonuses.
The club has adopted a cautious stance in negotiations, hesitant to meet Brentford’s full asking price. However, with pre-season already underway and Mbeumo originally expected to be part of the squad by now, the prolonged delay is becoming increasingly noticeable.
Mbeumo’s unexpected transfer twist
When it was revealed that Mbeumo wanted a move to Old Trafford within the opening days of the transfer market, many thought that a deal could come soon afterwards.
But delays have occurred for a variety of reasons and the Manchester Evening News have noted another unexpected twist which has impacted this deal.
The latest reports from the outlet have explained that United thought that they were closing in on an agreement with Brentford last month.
Yet, the appointment of Keith Andrews as their new coach, following Thomas Frank’s surprise move to Tottenham, is said to have caused a delay in negotiations.
No matter the reason behind the delays, it is impacting Amorim’s plans at Carrington as he ideally wanted Mbeumo in the building for day one of pre-season.
United could repeat Onana move with Mbeumo
The aforementioned report explained that United are still working on a deal to sign Mbeumo in time to join the squad on the plane to the United States next week.
But it was also claimed that if an agreement is not reached in time then the Reds could see the 25-year-old join them later on during their 12-day tour.
This same situation occurred in the summer of 2023, when André Onana travelled on his own to America to meet up with United’s squad on tour after he signed from Inter Milan.
The goalkeeper then managed to play in pre-season friendlies against Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid.
United fans would not be best-pleased with this outcome, especially after so much was made of having a new squad heading into pre-season. At the moment, there has been one signing and zero sales at first-team level which leaves Amorim working with almost the exact same group.
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