Manchester United have Chelsea and Newcastle to thank for failing to secure the signing of Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford.
The Red Devils have so far only managed to sign Matheus Cunha from Wolves for £62.5m and Diego Leon for £3.5m from Cerro Porteno, and are said to currently be focused entirely on prising Bryan Mbeumo away from Brentford.
They’ve seen two bids rejected for the 25-year-old, the latest of which is said to have matched the fee paid for Cunha, with the Bees holding out for £65m for the Cameroon international, who is keen on the move to Old Trafford but perhaps not as desperate as the United bosses would like.
The United bosses missed their own ‘internal deadline’ to sign Bryan Mbeumo on Monday when the players returned to pre-season training, though transfer expert Fabrizio Romano claims the Brentford star is still ‘giving priority’ to the move to Old Trafford as ‘talks continue’.
Romano tweeted: ‘Manchester United’s absolute focus remains on Bryan Mbeumo deal with talks set to continue this week.
‘No agreement with Brentford last week but #MUFC keep working on it and Bryan also keeps giving priority to United move. Deal on.’
In a recent interview, Brentford director of football Phil Giles claimed Mbeumo would be “happy to stay” with the Bees if they don’t get what they want for him.
“There has been significant interest in Bryan. It’s been well documented and publicised about his current preference,” Giles confirmed to Sky Sports.
“I think, from what I understand, he’s also happy to stay at Brentford next year as well. If that deal is right, there is a deal to do. If not then he will stay.
“We’ve spoken to Bryan and his representatives and it is not a given that he will depart this summer. There is interest, he had a great season last season, it’s inevitable there will be interest in him.”
And a report from The I Paper claims that Joao Pedro’s £60m move to Chelsea and Newcastle’s failed bid of £55m for Anthony Elanga has strengthened Brentford’s resolve to hold out for their asking price.
Although it’s been claimed Brentford want £65m, the report claims they in fact want ‘significantly more’ than United’s latest £62.5m bid.
Make of that what you will, but although talks are indeed ongoing, a source claimed a resolution is “not imminent” amid claims United’s bid to land Mbeumo has been hampered by the forward stating his desire to join Ruben Amorim’s side before any contact between the two clubs had been made.
The report states:
‘When news of Mbeumo’s preference emerged a month ago, there had been no club-to-club contact between Brentford and Manchester United, putting the latter on the back foot in their bid to sign the Cameroon forward.
‘Subsequent dialogue has seen two bids lodged, neither of which comes close to the valuation on the player.
‘While they have not walked away from talks yet – and seemingly have no intention of doing that – it looks inevitable that the saga will drag on unless their bid is increased significantly.’