Mbeumo success is the transfer breakthrough Man Utd DESPERATELY needed

Suraj Radia

29 Oct 2025 15:52 GMT
4 min read

Manchester United spent more than €250 million on players during the summer but they may have finally struck gold with their transfer business after the progress of their new signings in recent weeks.

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Having previously enforced a policy which targeted unproven European youngsters or big names who may not be ideal tactical fits, nearly €150m of United’s budget this summer was spent on standout Premier League performers in Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha.

Compared

Bryan Mbeumo

F (CR), M (R)

Man Utd

Bryan Mbeumo

F (CR), M (R)

Man Utd

VS

Matheus Cunha

F, AM (C)

Man Utd

Matheus Cunha

F, AM (C)

Man Utd

€64.9M	ETV	€59.3M
€58.4M - €71.4M	ETV Range	€53.4M - €65.2M
26 years old (07 Aug, 1999)	Age	26 years old (27 May, 1999)
Cameroon	Nationality	Brazil

The pursuit of Cunha and Mbeumo marked a major change that had not been seen in recent years – prior to their arrivals, United had only made one major signing from a Premier League club since 2019 in Mason Mount.

Mount’s €67m signing from Chelsea in 2023 has largely been a disappointing one and may have convinced United that they would find better value from outside the Premier League instead, although that has rarely proven to be the case for them.

Ultimately, United chose to bring in a duo with 71 goals and 41 Premier League assists between them – more than the rest of their squad combined outside of star player Bruno Fernandes.

It should be perhaps no surprise then that Mbeumo has been United’s most consistent performer and top scorer this season, while Cunha is slowly finding form, to prove that, sometimes, the simple solutions may often prove to be the right ones.

Man Utd reminded why Premier League-proven is a necessary trait with inexperienced squad

Cunha scored his first United strike last weekend against Brighton, although goals have been the only thing the Brazilian was missing from an otherwise solid start to life at Old Trafford.

© IMAGO - Matheus Cunha is slowly adapting to life at Manchester United.

But it is Mbeumo who has truly picked up where he left off from his time at Brentford after his €75m transfer, netting four times and being a reliable finisher in a squad that boasts the second-highest xG in the Premier League.

United spent big on Benjamin Sesko to lead their line this summer but the 22-year-old is still – understandably – to find his feet in England, leaving Mbeumo to relieve some of the goalscoring load and pressure off his young teammate.

Ruben Amorim is still aware of the quality available to him in Europe and how young players may just need time to settle in, having seen Matthijs de Ligt thrive this season after a mixed debut campaign last year, while Belgian goalkeeper Senne Lammens has immediately slotted in after his summer transfer.

However, after largely ignoring the domestic market for many years, United have been given an instant reminder of the benefits to targeting proven Premier League stars, particularly when they perfectly suit the team like Mbeumo and Cunha have.

Having been linked with the likes of Antoine Semenyo and Jean-Philippe Mateta in recent weeks, United may be ready to continue with their new transfer strategy as they look to build on a dramatic turnaround in fortunes in the Amorim era.

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