‘Man United to snub Bryan Mbeumo deal with Brentford amid wild demands’
Bryan Mbeumo’s baffling demands and troubling statistics may now see Man United pull out of a deal for the Brentford star.
The Red Devils are looking to perform a swift overhaul of their squad, after losing the Europa League final to Tottenham and finishing 15th in the Premier League.
Those changes began on 2 June when United confirmed the signing of Matheus Cunha from Wolves for £62.5million [Sky Sports].
Next on the list appears to be Brentford‘s star man, who has attracted plenty of interest from other Premier League clubs after a stunning season with the Bees.
But despite Arsenal and Newcastle being linked, Mbeumo has since made clear his preference is to join United this summer.
However, several issues have since arisen surrounding the Cameroon international, and the Red Devils may pull out of a deal for the 26-year-old.
Bryan Mbeumo makes startling wage demands to Man United
According to The Times, Mbeumo wants wages of £250,000-a-week if he joins United.
The Cameroon international is currently on £50,000-a-week and that would see his pay increase five-fold at a time when Jim Ratcliffe is continuing to dispense with staff and the football operation are desperate to shed the contracts of Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho, each on around £300,000-a-week according to The Times.
What’s more, the quarter of a million pounds a week Mbeumo is angling for would make him one of the highest paid players at Old Trafford.
Adding to the sizeable wage demands is an asking price of at least £60million from Brentford, making the deal a tall task for a club that is strapped for cash.
Bryan Mbeumo statistics for Brentford suggest last season was anomaly
Even if United are able to finance the deal for Mbeumo, his statistics from last season make for concerning reading.
At face value, the 26-year-old took a remarkable leap. The winger had never registered double-digits in the Premier League, but he found the back of the net 20 times last season.
Coupled with his seven assists, Mbeumo was third in the Premier League’s list of goal contributions, behind only Liverpool target and Newcastle star Alexander Isak (29 G/A) and the ever-astonishing Mohamed Salah (47 G/A).
But when delving slightly further into those stats, some issues arise. Five of the Cameroonian’s goals were from the penalty spot, not a major concern, but he will not be the penalty taker if he signs for United, especially since Bruno Fernandes has decided to reject a Saudi move.
The bigger issue lies in Mbeumo’s expected goals (xG) numbers, as xG is used to calculate the value of a goal-scoring chance, with the range going from zero to one.
| 2024/25 Premier League stats | Mbeumo |
| Goals (penalty goals) | 20 (5) |
| Assists | 7 |
| Expected goals | 12.26 xG |
| Non-penalty expected goals | 7.53 xG |
| Expected assists | 9.26 xA |
From 15 non-penalty goals, the winger had a 7.53 xG, overperforming his numbers by double the expected output.
For context, last season Mbeumo scored nine goals from 9.81 xG, and the season before he got nine goals from 9.77 xG.
While xG is not a perfect metric to judge exact output, but it is remarkably good at indicating where a player’s mean value of output lies, and stark over-performances are usually followed by drop-offs in output.
Mbeumo’s numbers don’t tell us that he will not produce for United if he moves there this summer, but it does give an understanding of what level of output can be expected.