Since signing with Manchester United, Bryan Mbeumo has kept a low profile, but this Tuesday he finally broke his silence in an interview with The Telegraph. The Cameroonian forward opened up about his transfer. After attracting interest from Tottenham and Newcastle, the forward reveals he always had his sights set on joining the Old Trafford club. The process that eventually saw Bryan Mbeumo move from Brentford to Manchester United for £71m was far from smooth.
There were 44 days of fractious negotiations between United first bidding for the Cameroon international and finally getting the transfer over the line.
But amid the drama and twists and turns and acrimony and claims of Brentford trying to push Mbeumo towards Tottenham Hotspur or Newcastle, a couple of things never wavered: the player’s determination to join United and his belief the deal would get done.
Mbeumo says he took the time to speak to managers of other clubs and listen carefully to their respective pitches but ultimately could not look beyond United and the prospect of putting them back on top, even after their worst season for 51 years.
“No [I never feared it would not happen], I always trust the people around me and I was convinced that it was going to happen,” explained Mbeumo, who had reported back for pre-season training with Brentford with a deal still hanging in the balance.
“The transfer windows can be long, they can be short. So you have to be patient, and just try to keep thinking positively about things. I was obviously on my holidays, so I just wanted to think about resting mentally and physically and if it was going to happen, it was going to happen.
“Of course I spoke to some other managers because I wanted to hear their projects but the Manchester United one was very good for me.
“I think I’m someone who likes a challenge. There is a very good project in Manchester and I wanted to be part of it. Manchester is a big club. I think it’s a great opportunity.” Ruben Amorim has endured a tough time since replacing Erik ten Hag as United’s head coach last November. But the charismatic Portuguese has a crystal clear vision in his mind of what he wants for the team and club and Mbeumo bought wholeheartedly into those ambitious plans. “He said ‘We are people who like winning and we want to be the best team’,” Mbeumo said. “And of course that’s what we will try to do. It was a very friendly conversation and a constructive one. He explained his project to me, what he wanted to do and I really clicked on that.”
