How Manchester United signed Bryan Mbeumo: Low-ball offer to top-end price – and why it took so long

From the first bid to the third, Manchester United’s pursuit of Bryan Mbeumo went on for 44 days, a timespan that allowed anxiety to grow among the fanbase, but the club believe they had good reason to wait.

Neatly, 44 is the number of Premier League goals United scored last season — and bringing in Mbeumo is seen within Old Trafford as a significant step to addressing that shortcoming for Ruben Amorim’s first full campaign.

Ultimately, Mbeumo has become a United player in time for the club’s tour of Chicago, New Jersey and Atlanta, giving him time to adjust to Amorim’s methods and get to know his new team-mates. Amorim has nearly a month leading up to Arsenal’s visit to Old Trafford on the opening weekend of the campaign to prepare with Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha, two forwards who scored 35 Premier League goals between them last term. Under the head coach, they are expected to operate behind a lone striker in the ‘No 10’ spots — Mbeumo to the right, Cunha to the left.

In the end, Cunha’s early arrival contributed to the delay on Mbeumo. United triggering Cunha’s £62.5million ($84m) release from Wolverhampton Wanderers gave Brentford a yardstick for Mbeumo’s price tag. Brentford were adamant Mbeumo was worth more and the Cameroonian did score 20 Premier League goals last season — but over their entire time in England’s top division, their output has been similar. Mbeumo has 42 goals and 30 assists in 136 games, compared with Cunha’s 29 goals and 13 assists in 82 games (both equating to a contribution every 1.9 games).

United pressed the button on Cunha on June 1, as soon as the window opened, having progressed on personal terms with him in the belief they could also trigger the £30m clause in Liam Delap’s Ipswich Town contract at the same time, negating any bidding wars. Delap chose Chelsea, however, with United informed of his intentions on May 29, and that brought negotiations into the equation after all.

United immediately pivoted to Mbeumo — they had already done groundwork on what the deal might look like and knew the player’s preference was to join them over other suitors, including Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal. People familiar with the situation, speaking anonymously like others in this article to discuss sensitive matters, claim that different clubs were told of Mbeumo’s financial demands and that he would join whoever was prepared to meet them — but the appeal of Manchester United proved broader: a raised profile due to a huge fanbase, and a chance to be part of the team aiming to return the club to the days of winning top trophies. His salary at Old Trafford, which is incentivised based on performances, is comfortably within the club’s pay structure.

Six days after learning Delap was turning them down, Manchester United submitted their first bid for Mbeumo of £45m plus £10m in add-ons — the start of the agitation in talks that would slow down progress.

Brentford believed that United had been informed by intermediaries of a price that would get the deal done — United’s initial offer fell below that figure and, in any case, Brentford’s valuation did not tally up with the message the intermediaries had apparently communicated north.

Reports emerged that Tottenham, now managed by Mbeumo’s former manager Thomas Frank, had made a £70million proposal. Spurs denied bidding for Mbeumo, but Brentford insisted that figure represented another barometer for his value, and United would have to raise their bid significantly.

United’s second offer, as an overall package, matched the fee for Cunha at £55m plus £7.5m in add-ons. While the opening offer was a case of testing the waters, United believed that, following background conversations, this follow-up bid had a good chance of being accepted.

That confidence led some at Old Trafford and Carrington to expect Mbeumo’s impending arrival at the end of June. But Brentford again turned United down. Whether that was Brentford moving the goalposts or United being misinformed depends on your perspective, each theory has been mentioned by people connected to the deal.

The wrangles continued. Some people involved in the deal say Brentford applied pressure on Mbeumo to accept moves to suitors who had offered a higher fee, such as Newcastle. Tottenham were also aware of how much a deal would cost to do.

Mbeumo’s preference was to join United but it did not mean that Brentford were prepared to let him leave for less than rivals were willing to pay. There was also a sense that United going lower than anticipated on the first bid had left Brentford, including owner Matthew Benham, unimpressed. Later, people familiar with the process say Brentford suggested Mbeumo could accept a lower salary at United to facilitate a higher transfer fee.

That never came to pass and in the end it was Brentford, who have cemented their place in the Premier League off the back of impressive player trading with fellow clubs, who compromised on their desired price to get a deal done.

After a sequence of different figures, the final asking price United received, in writing, was £70million plus £7m in add-ons.

Last summer, Brentford sold Ivan Toney and they were never going to allow Mbeumo to leave in the same window. They accepted it would be difficult to keep Mbeumo for more than another year but projected a productive season could raise his value to £80m.

Club talks mainly ran through sporting director Phil Giles, United’s director of negotiations, Matt Hargreaves, and their director of football Jason Wilcox, who knows Giles well as his son Max played for Brentford B up until this summer.

Benham, a physics graduate of the University of Oxford who made his money through betting businesses with mathematical modelling, has used the same analytics to raise Brentford from the third tier to become an established member of the Premier League, and he influenced his side’s approach in this transfer. He has been spotted wearing a Cameroon shirt several times, so there was a personal element in his appreciation of Mbeumo too.

At United, Sir Jim Ratcliffe set the parameters and wanted his executives to emerge with a good deal. There was an element of competition, as well as trying to be financially responsible amid cutbacks from minority owner INEOS.

Joel and Avram Glazer were also across the spending, and one consideration was that, after Cunha, Mbeumo’s fee represented a second large outlay for a player who would be 26 by the time the season started. Both players go into United’s top 10 most expensive transfers.

The issue for United was that Brentford knew how much they wanted Mbeumo, especially after missing out on Delap. Ratcliffe, Amorim, chief executive Omar Berrada, and Wilcox made a unified choice to target signings with proven Premier League records, and Mbeumo was only outscored by Mohamed Salah, Alexander Isak and Erling Haaland last season. Extended to the last three seasons and only Ollie Watkins joins that list, with Mbeumo ranking seventh in Premier League goal contributions in that period.

United’s leverage came from Mbeumo only having 12 months left on his contract. Brentford had an option to extend a year to 2027 but this summer represented their last opportunity to extract maximum value. They had previously allowed David Raya and Toney to enter the final 12 months of their deals, impacting the fees they received, and were keen to avoid a repeat. Mbeumo had made it clear after the 2023-24 campaign that he would not sign a new contract and wanted to move. Dressing-room sources, who have been kept anonymous to protect relationships, were adamant at the end of last season that he would depart.

United also felt that Brentford’s model for buying and selling players meant they eventually had to allow Mbeumo to leave or it would undermine that strategy. Agreeing a deal would benefit their pitches to future signings.

It was at this point, following the second bid, that Mbeumo told Brentford, and Tottenham, he only wanted United.

Brentford pulled their own lever. Giles went public to say Mbeumo would stay if the deal was not right for his club. “There’s no harm in keeping your best players,” said Giles.

United stepped back, sensing that sometimes in negotiations, silence draws the opposite party to return to the table. Three weeks went by with no real progress, much to the frustration of United’s fanbase. Amorim expressed a degree of restlessness, too. Observers with sharper tongues suggested United were at least saving money on wages by not getting in Mbeumo earlier.

United held talks on other targets, including several strikers, but Mbeumo was the focus rather than efforts to find alternatives to generate leverage. Brentford knew United’s desire to sign Mbeumo and waited.

A figurative deadline of July 7, United’s first day back in pre-season, came and went.

Instead, it was Brentford’s return to training a week later that provoked movement. Mbeumo reported for duty on July 14 and acted professionally — but also made clear to Brentford officials he wanted to join United. He did not though take part in outdoor sessions, instead working in the gym before being given time away to complete his move, which means he will need to get up to speed first with United.

Brentford’s aggressive pursuit of Ipswich’s Omari Hutchinson — they made multiple offers last week for the left-footed winger who plays on the right, like Mbeumo — was another hint the saga was drawing to a close.

The reality of trying to keep a player who had psychologically moved on was apparent and, with United’s tour to the United States looming, club executives held renewed face-to-face talks to determine the path ahead.

The location of this breakthrough summit was unusual: the stand-off thawed in Iceland.

Ratcliffe, using his private jet, frequently travels all over the world and last week was scheduled to be in Egilsstadir, in the north east of the country, where he likes to go fly fishing and has invested in environmental scheme Six Rivers.

Berrada and Wilcox flew to Iceland last Wednesday to be with United’s co-owner for a few days and go over United business.

The transfer window was prime among discussions, with Mbeumo top of the agenda. Ratcliffe likes to talk in person when making important calls and subsequently sanctioned United returning with a third bid of £65million plus £5m in add-ons, reaching that £70m price point pitched by the contested Spurs offer, albeit lower than the £77m package proposed by Brentford.

Brentford gave the impression that package would be sufficient for broad agreement and by Thursday night, all that remained was figuring out the add-ons. Eventually, Brentford squeezed a further £1m from United, who will spread out the payments for the guaranteed amount over four years. Brentford have doubled their previous club-record sale from Toney’s £33.6m move to Saudi Pro League side Al Ahli last August. United insiders feel Brentford would not have accepted £65m plus £6m any earlier in the process. The bonuses are based on a mix of team an individual achievements.

Mbeumo was given permission to travel to Manchester, where he arrived at Old Trafford’s international suite just before midday on Saturday — around the same time Brentford flew out to Portugal for their pre-season training camp. He was at Carrington on Sunday, across the weekend doing his medical, media, and signing paperwork. Despite living in England since 2019, United also had to arrange a new work visa, putting club staff on a clock to get him ready for Tuesday’s team flight to Chicago. Mbeumo’s agent, Jeremy Ramalingam, carried out the work on the player side.

Some people close to United privately accept that the club have paid at the top end of Mbeumo’s value, possibly over it, but when set against Amorim’s need for immediate impact and the general market for Premier League forwards, the outlay is seen as being worthwhile.

This summer, clubs have agreed to pay more than £50million, in some cases £60m, for a host of players without Mbeumo’s record, including Noni Madueke, Anthony Elanga, Joao Pedro, Jamie Gittens, Mohammed Kudus and Morgan Gibbs-White.

Rather than splash the cash for a player from Europe who might turn into an elite talent, as United have tried in recent years, they are accepting a premium to bring in an established performer.

Now the question is whether Mbeumo can translate his ability to the stage, and scrutiny, of United.

(Top photo: John Walton/PA Images/Getty Images; design: Dan Goldfarb/The Athletic)