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How Man Utd will line up with Bryan Mbeumo
Analysis
Man Utd are about to add Bryan Mbeumo to their squad.
Bryan Mbeumo will join Man Utd from Brentford very soon according to reports. The Cameroon international will sign for a fee of around €65 million.
The delay in getting the deal completed is allegedly down to disputes over payment plans, add-ons and bonuses. But things should soon be resolved and Mbeumo will become the fourth signing of the Ruben Amorim era.
Current ETV
Bryan Mbeumo
F (CR), M (R)
Brentford
Bryan Mbeumo
F (CR), M (R)
Brentford
ETV Range
€41.1M - €50.3M
But how will his arrival change the way Man Utd play? What will he bring to the team that they currently lack and can he replicate those incredible goalscoring numbers at Old Trafford? These are all valid questions.
Crucially, how will Man Utd line-up with Bryan Mbeumo in the team? Let's have a look:
The Second Amad
One of Man Utd's major problems in 2024/25 was that they only had one Amad. The Ivorian is an essential part of the way United play with his dribbling and creative ability, but he was the only player in the squad who could do that. They struggled without him and even when he was there, they needed a second Amad.
Bryan Mbeumo is a second Amad. He can dribble, he can create, and unlike Amad he's actually got the physical power to tussle with defenders.
Amad major weakness is playing with his back to goal. In the Europa League final he practically disappeared from the game as he was so easy to mark further up, and when he dropped to receive the ball there was no one ahead of him as he'd vacated his position.
Mbeumo slots perfectly into that attacking midfield role, allowing Amad to drop to wing-back where he will nearly always find himself facing goal and often in a 1-v-1 situation against his defender, the perfect situation for him.
Mbeumo, meanwhile, can play with his back to goal better than Amad. The two of them will dovetail to make Man Utd's right flank devastating to deal with. Double up on one, the other will devastate you, mark each 1-v-1 and you're rolling the dice each time United have the ball on that side of the pitch.
If Man Utd can get a better striker than Joshua Zirkzee then things could really get hectic.
GK: Andre Onana
RCB: Leny Yoro
CB: Matthijs De Ligt
LCB: Lisandro Martinez
RWB: Amad
CM: Manuel Ugarte
CM: Bruno Fernandes
LWB: Patrick Dorgu
RAM: Bryan Mbeumo
LAM: Matheus Cunha
ST: Joshua Zirkzee
All-Out Attack
Last season Mbeumo had 144 shot creating actions in the Premier League, ranking him fifth in the division behind only Cole Palmer, Mohamed Salah, Enzo Fernandez and new team-mate Bruno Fernandes. He is intensely creative.
It's important to note this because in a situation where you're going all out attack, trying desperately to break an opponent down, you will want to stuff as many attackers onto the pitch as possible because they're the ones who can score out of nothing.
Mbeumo faciliates this by having the physical engine to drop deeper into that wing-back role. It's not an ideal position for him, but with his dribbling and crossing, he could play there and allow you to get two or even three strikers on the pitch.
GK: Andre Onana
RCB: Noussair Mazraoui
CB: Leny Yoro
LCB: Lisandro Martinez
RWB: Bryan Mbeumo
CM: Mason Mount
CM: Bruno Fernandes
LWB: Patrick Dorgu
RAM: Joshua Zirkzee
LAM: Matheus Cunha
ST: Chido Obi
Defend A Lead
One thing Man Utd have to get better at is defending a lead. And while that is certainly down to the defenders on the pitch (and their awful goalkeeper) it's also the attackers.
First the defenders though, you'd definitely get Harry Maguire and Ayden Heaven on for their superior physical presence when compared to Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez. You'd also replace Amad with Noussair Mazraoui at wing-back for added protection.
One of the key things when defending a lead, however, is not getting too defensive. You always need an attacking outlet on the field.
To that end, Mbeumo's versatility and ball-carrying means that if United wanted to they could pull one of their forwards deeper to form a midfield three that is much more defensive and leave Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha up-front as forwards.
These two could carry the team's press but also would provide a genuine goal threat on counter-attacks even when running a two man break (or maybe three if Bruno joins in). That would be huge for taking pressure off the defence in a rearguard.
GK: Andre Onana
RCB: Leny Yoro
CB: Harry Maguire
LCB: Ayden Heaven
RWB: Noussair Mazraoui
CDM: Manuel Ugarte
CDM: Casemiro
LWB: Patrick Dorgu
CM: Bruno Fernandes
ST: Bryan Mbeumo
ST: Matheus Cunha
Mbeumo 9
The final great thing about Bryan Mbeumo is his goalscoring. Historically it's not been fantastic but in 2024/25 it ballooned and he scored 20 Premier League goals.
That's a seriously impressive total, and while five of them were penalties, it's still impressive. Six of his strikes coming against Southampton and Leicester may seem disqualifying at first until you remember that Man Utd routinely failed to beat even weaker sides in 2024/25.
STATS
Bryan Mbeumo
F (CR), M (R)
Brentford
Bryan Mbeumo
F (CR), M (R)
Brentford
Even if all Mbeumo turns out to be is a flat-track bully... that's what Man Utd need! And what's more, if Mbeumo's goalscoring has indeed kicked on to be 15+ consistently then in certain situations (and especially if they don't sign a no. 9) Ruben Amorim could have Byran Mbeumo lead the line himself.
Mbeumo has the physicality necessary to play up-top and while it's not the best use of his skill-set, it is something he is capable of doing and it would allow Amorim to get the brilliant Kobbie Mainoo on the field in one of those attacking midfield roles.
GK: Andre Onana
RCB: Leny Yoro
CB: Matthijs De Ligt
LCB: Lisandro Martinez
RWB: Amad
CM: Manuel Ugarte
CM: Bruno Fernandes
LWB: Patrick Dorgu
RAM: Kobbie Mainoo
LAM: Matheus Cunha
ST: Bryan Mbeumo
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