Mbeumo celebrates
Mbeumo celebrates
"From what I understand, if needs be, he's happy to stay at Brentford next year as well, so listen, let's see on that. I think our position is he had an unbelievable season last year and we expected interest in him. If that deal is right, then there's a deal to do, but if not, then he'll stay."
When Brentford's sporting director, Phil Giles, sat down to offer an update on Bryan Mbeumo's situation, it's clear he was keen to stress that the Cameroon international would be happy to remain at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Mbeumo's desire to move to , and so Giles' update focused more on the player's mindset should an agreement between the two clubs not be reached. And United should be encouraged by the update.
Far too often, we see examples of players taking matters into their own hands and attempting to force a move away from a club.
Take Antony, for example. He is by no means the only player to have adopted such a strategy, but his refusal to train or play for Ajax prior to his move to United in 2022 was a red flag before he had even stepped foot inside Old Trafford.
United were said to have been impressed by the "attitude" Antony had shown to sign for the club, but there was nothing impressive about it.
He would apologise just days later, insisting he was sorry if he had "failed" the fans. Attitude is as important as ability when it comes to representing a club of United's stature, and you can tell a lot about a player from the manner of their exit from a club.
Antony may have forced his way out of Ajax but he has shown little to suggest he has what it takes to force his way back into United's plans and he is on the club's list of priority sales this summer.
It would be remiss to imply Antony's failure to live up to his £86m price tag was purely down to his attitude. The Brazilian has struggled to showcase his talents in the Premier League, with the slower pace of La Liga unsurprisingly bringing out the best in him while on loan at Real Betis.
But goading a Championship team, having thrown away a three-goal lead and scraped past them in an FA Cup semi-final on penalties, and showboating against FC Sheriff with the score locked at 0-0 aren't examples of the attitude needed to play for a club like Manchester United.
Brentford know there is a deal to be done for Mbeumo and they are well within their rights to hold firm until their valuation is met. The ball is in United's court on that front.
But do they risk being saddled with an unhappy player if they refuse to sanction his exit? It certainly doesn't seem like it.
Brentford were the club that brought Mbeumo to England and gave him the opportunity to be linked with a club like United. They are the club that pays his wages and respect should be shown.
Mbeumo has every right to want to move to United, but there's a right way and a wrong way to go about it.
He is doing things the right way, and that is good news for United.
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