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New York Times
3 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
How could Bryan Mbeumo improve Manchester United?
Bryan Mbeumo is a good player and should fit whatever style of football Ruben Amorim wants to play next season at Manchester United. That's the short version. The 25-year-old Mbeumo, who will turn 26 in August, notched 20 goals and eight assists for Brentford last season, establishing himself as one of the better forwards in the Premier League. Advertisement While we are merely at the beginning of this transfer story — United are set to open talks with Brentford following news that Mbeumo's decision is that he would prefer to move to Old Trafford — this is a signing that has to work. For the player and his future club. Here's a cheat sheet as to why it probably will. Because he is versatile and a fan of maximal efficiency. Give him the ball and he'll look to get things done. Six years at Brentford have seen Mbeumo develop from a promising youngster in the Championship into a forward capable of taking on Champions League defences. The Cameroon international has been deployed in several roles at Brentford, impressing as a right winger in a 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 setup (playing off Ivan Toney), and thriving as a striker in a 3-5-2 alongside Yoane Wissa. Mbeumo is direct. Naturally left-footed, but not shy about using his right, he excels when driving into space. A look at his goals and assists from last season shows a player who has favoured areas in and around the penalty area, and knows how to get to them consistently. Look at that trio of shots to the right of the box in the graphic below. That's a little zone where he hustles to get a shot off. One difference between Mbeumo in 2024-25 compared to seasons past comes in his presence at the back post. The forward has furthered his talent and timing when attacking crosses and cutbacks. The campaign also saw him finesse and experiment with his crossing ability from the right half-space, hitting balls early and consistently against unprepared defences. Furthermore, he's got a massive backside. As Yaya Toure once pointed out, this is often used as a tool attacking players use when looking to gain separation from defenders. Mbeumo uses his posterior in a similar fashion to Eden Hazard during his Chelsea peak, opting for a well-timed hip-check to protect the ball before powering away while the defender is reeling. The pace at which Mbeumo moves with the ball, coupled with the skills he employs to protect it, makes him a quality footballer. His versatility is alluring, but Mbeumo's best fit would be as the right-sided No 10 in Amorim's 3-4-3. His possible arrival would change the complexion of United's striker search this summer window. A team containing him, Matheus Cunha and Bruno Fernandes would be best led by a centre-forward who prefers to stretch the play, rather than drop deep and receive the ball at their feet. (The Athletic will elaborate on this more in a future piece.) United's reasons for signing Mbeumo are best explained by a series of quotes Amorim gave towards the end of last season. Asked to elaborate on which characteristics his squad would benefit from, the head coach said: 'It is players that play more inside than outside, those small things, even the foot. It's really important in the position that Garna (Alejandro Garnacho) played today (against Athletic Club), as a right No 10, to have a left foot. It can change the way you play.' Advertisement A look at Mbeumo's progressive carries from 2024-25 shows a left-footed player equally capable of cutting inside or getting chalk on his boots on the outside. If he were to join Amorim's side, he would help provide additional angles of attack, making the team less one-dimensional in the final third. He's a straightforward defender when his team are out of possession, too, pressing to eliminate the more obvious passing lanes from opponents when they look to build from the back. This is a Premier League-proven attacking player who wouldn't require the same onboarding process that may come with alternative transfer targets. The eagle-eyed among you may have spotted a degree of xG overperformance from Mbeumo's non-penalty goal tally last season. The forward netted 14 times from an expected goal value of 7.3, suggesting he may have enjoyed a purple patch in front of goal that could be hard to replicate next season. Six of his league goals came via penalties in 2024-25 — a duty he'll likely have to delegate to his future captain Fernandes. Mbeumo is also a player who works best when given the ball in high volume. As is Cunha. And Fernandes, who will likely play in central midfield behind them. To get the best out of the trio, Amorim will have to recalibrate his build-up patterns to ensure they all get the attacking space and enough of the ball to better affect games. Amorim will also need reinforcements at centre-forward and wing-back to further these plans. There's a lot more to his game that we'll leave for a later date, but here's the hyperbolic statement for your footballing group chats and discussions in beer gardens: If Mbeumo arrives at Old Trafford, he'll provide the sort of attacking play many expected from Jadon Sancho in 2021. This is someone who can help solve a lot of issues on the right-hand side of United's attack.
BBC News
3 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
What Mbeumo could add to Amorim's Reds?
Brentford forward Bryan Mbeumo could make the switch to Manchester United this summer, so what might the Cameroon international add to Ruben Amorim's side?Well, goals, energy, assists and pace if last season is anything to go Ivan Toney departed Brentford for the Saudi Pro League last summer, very few people would have anticipated the Bees would adapt so quickly and finish was largely down to Mbeumo's partnership with centre-forward Yoane Wissa, as the pair formed quite an attacking Bees scored 66 goals in the league in total and had the highest conversion rate (19.9%) of all teams in the Premier scored 20 of that tally, with only Mohamed Salah (29), Alexander Isak (23) and Erling Haaland (22) scoring more. He also provided seven while the numbers reflect why Manchester United would be interested in the 25-year-old, it is also important to look at the wider picture. Mbeumo overperformed last season according to Opta, scoring 20 times despite having an xG of surpassed his expected goals total by the greatest margin in the Premier League season (+7.74) and also had the highest expected assists total of any player in the league with the 2023-24 season, Mbeumo scored nine goals and registered seven assists in 25 games, while the season before he netted the same amount of goals but one more Opta are right in that he overperformed for Brentford last season compared to his previous three seasons in the Premier League and Amorim will have to push to make sure this new standard from Mbeumo becomes the it is when and how Mbeumo scores that will interest Manchester United fans the most. Mbeumo is viewed as being versatile, dynamic, powerful and fast, and Amorim wants flexible were fast-starters in the Premier League, putting together a unique run of scoring in the opening 40 seconds in three successive games. Mbeumo was responsible for keeping that trend going - scoring after 23 seconds against Tottenham and 37 seconds against West is quite remarkable when there were only 10 goals scored in the Premier League last season with less than a minute on the clock and two are United would certainly benefit from Mbeumo's lively start as the Reds were particularly slow to grow into games last season and left a lot of fans slumping into their seats rather than on the edge of them.A move from West London to Old Trafford is at the talks stage between the clubs, but with no release clause it is doubtful Brentford will be easy-negotiators. United will have to put their hands in their pocket if they want Mbeumo to be their second signing of the summer.
BBC News
28-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
The stats do not lie - ranking Africa's Premier League stars
The curtain has come down on the 2024-25 Premier League season, with Mohamed Salah instrumental as Liverpool wrapped up the title with four games to Egyptian was named Premier League player of the season on the back of his 47 goal involvements (29 goals, 18 assists), a tally which moved him level with 90s icons Alan Shearer and Andy Cole for the most ever in a Bryan Mbeumo also had an impressive campaign, with his career-best 20 strikes and seven assists likely to spark transfer interest in the Brentford which other Africans made an impression? BBC Sport Africa has been crunching the data to find out. Bees strike force provide sting Standout forwards: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Bryan Mbeumo (Brentford), Yoane Wissa (Brentford)Among attackers, it was a case of Salah leading the way. Not many could keep 32-year-old topped the division's charts for expected goals (25.4), minutes per goal (116.5), total shots (130), total shots on target (61) and touches in the opposition box (394).His 89 chances created was the joint-second highest in the top flight, while Mbeumo's tally of 70 was fifth-highest, the next best by an African and a club record for a Brentford finding the net 20 times, Mbeumo also notably outperformed his expected goals, with the metric which rates the quality of chances suggesting that his efforts were worth only 12.3 goals. He formed a deadly partnership with 19-goal forward Yoane Wissa, with the DR Congo man scoring every 154.1 minutes to give him the second-best strike rate of any player from the Semenyo also stood out as his last-day double for Bournemouth secured him double figures for goals (11) for the first time in the top 211 touches in the opposition box were second only to Salah, while the Ghanaian ranked third in the league for both total shots (125) and dribbles completed (69). Gueye shows his experience Standout midfielders: Alex Iwobi (Fulham), Idrissa Gueye (Everton), Carlos Baleba (Brighton & Hove Albion)Alex Iwobi proved to be the most creative African midfielder with his nine goals and six assists for Fulham just ahead of Manchester United's Amad Diallo (eight goals and six assists) – although the Nigerian played 1,093 more minutes than the also led the way for chances created (59) and successful passes into the final third (508), while Ghana's Thomas Partey recorded the most successful passes (1,631) of any African midfielder as Arsenal once again fell short in the title Idrissa Gana Gueye made his experience count to help Everton comfortably secure their Premier League status in their final season at Goodison 35-year-old Senegalese made a league-high 133 tackles and won 221 duels, the most of any African Carlos Baleba proved that he is on his way towards becoming a top talent, winning back possession for his Brighton side 197 figure leads the way for the continent's midfielders, with Gueye close behind on 194. Bassey commanding in the box Standout defenders: Calvin Bassey (Fulham), Aaron Wan-Bissaka (West Ham), Rayan Ait-Nouri (Wolves)Three full-backs stood out with their Wan-Bissaka, who has switched his allegiance to DR Congo, made the most interceptions (66) and completed the most dribbles (64) among Premier League defenders – form that saw him voted West Ham's player of the season by Rayan Ait-Nouri provided a serious attacking threat playing as a wing-back, bagging four goals and seven assists in a struggling Wolves Aina had the best season of his career for Nottingham Forest, impressively winning back possession 190 times - the highest figure recorded by any top-flight Nigerian right-back also made a joint-high three clearances off the line, a figure which was matched by six other players including, unexpectedly, Everton and Senegal forward Iliman international team-mate Calvin Bassey touched the ball 2,536 times for Fulham - more than any other African in the Premier League – and his 1,926 successful passes, 113 clearances and 17 blocks were the most by a defender from the Noussair Mazraoui's 115 tackles and 216 duels for Manchester United ranked the Moroccan second and third respectively among the league's defenders. A season to forget for Onana Andre Onana, the only African goalkeeper in the Premier League, endured a disappointing time as Manchester United recorded their worst finish in 50 Cameroon number one did keep nine clean sheets, but that meant the 44 goals he conceded came in just 25 90 saves were the 12th most of any keeper while his save percentage of 66.9% ranked him 15th among those who made 10 or more 29-year-old made three errors leading to goals, with only three men making more. The unwanted records The player who committed the most fouls in the Premier League in 2024-25 threw up a surprising name, with Bournemouth's Semenyo drawing the referee's whistle 73 number was well above anyone else from the continent, as Gueye and his Everton team-mate Aboulaye Doucoure of Mali registered 55 and 49 fouls Town and Egypt midfielder Samy Morsy picked up the most yellow cards by an African (10), with Gueye and Semenyo both getting one fewer and rounding out a podium of Kudus was dispossessed a league-high 93 times, and the Ghanaian also struck the woodwork six times – an unfortunate tally matched only by Nicolas Jackson, Mohamed Salah and Cole Senegalese forward Jackson was offside more times than any other African, drifting past the last man 23 times. Only Chris Wood, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Jamie Vardy were on the wrong end of an assistant referee's flag more Awoniyi got used to being left out of Nottingham Forest's starting XI as Wood spearheaded an unlikely, but ultimately successfully, challenge for two players – Forest team-mate Jota Silva and Ipswich midfielder Jack Taylor – made more substitute appearances than Awoniyi, with 23 of the Nigerian striker's 26 outings coming from the via Opta and Premier League
BBC News
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
'Brentford are always entertaining'
Here's my quick assessment of Brentford's Premier League season - and a return to my August the season: 10thPre-season prediction: 17thWhat an outstanding job manager Thomas Frank continues to do at Brentford. They finished in the Premier League's top 10 and the days when many (guilty!) thought they would struggle to survive in the top flight are long made a nonsense of those pre-season pessimists. (Guilty again!)Brentford are always entertaining with those two outstanding forwards Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa. They barely missed a beat after the loss of Ivan I said in August: "Manager Thomas Frank continues to do a fine job but this may be his biggest test."Read my assessments of the other 19 teams here
BBC News
25-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
'Two top-half finishes in four seasons is incredible'
Brentford boss Thomas Frank, speaking to BBC Match of the Day: "We were closer to edging it. It was a bit of a game of two halves. In the first half we were better."In the second half I thought Wolves had a few dangerous moments. It was a little bit of a disappointing goal to concede, but that happens. We probably should have made it 2-0 in the first half, but we didn't."On Bryan Mbeumo: "I think it's fantastic for all three [Yoane Wissa and Kevin Schade too]. It's a big compliment to the three of them, but also to the team. For Bryan to finish on 20 goals is incredible."On Brentford's season: "To produce two top-half finishes in four seasons is incredible. There's a lot of clubs that I admire that haven't done that in many years. We've done a lot of things well."On the future of Mbeumo and Wissa: "I've said many times before, we're a selling club. If the right bid comes in, we're open, but of course I'd like to keep [my players]."
