United hope to sign Mbeumo, and he is expected to start matches if he is signed.placeholder image
United hope to sign Mbeumo, and he is expected to start matches if he is signed. | Getty Images
Man Utd have laboured in their attempts to sign Bryan Mbeumo, but should they have signed someone else.
Manchester United looked like they were coming out of the traps before the transfer window was even open giving hope to Ruben Amorim ahead of what could be a pivotal season.
What shouldn’t have been difficult was the signing of Mbeumo, but it is now looking like one that should have been dropped and a plan B put into place.
How Man Utd could have saved £10m by dropping Mbeumo deal
Mbeumo’s price tag is nearing the £65m mark, a lot of money for a player who has never really had to play under the sort of pressure that 75,000 fans every other week will demand. A deal is said to be imminent, as it has been all summer, although an envious glance across the Premier League must surely be a source of frustration.
Joao Pedro signed for Chelsea for £55m, there was no drawn out negotiation period or going repeatedly back and forth, the proposal was made and Brighton earned a hefty profit for a player who was ready to move on. With another top class goal in the Club World Cup final, it is looking like money well spent whilst United dither over a pound or two.
One other quality that Pedro has, as praised by Alan Shearer on The Rest is Football podcast (9th July), is that he can fill a number of roles in the forward line: “I just think that João Pedro is so versatile. He can play, it was sort of a false nine yesterday, playing deeper, but he can play on the wing. He even, he had the ball away in the back post at one point.
“It was all over the pitch, whereas obviously (Nicholas) Jackson is more, you're out and out striker, isn't he? And then Liam Delap’s suspended for that game, he comes back, but surely João Pedro starts, surely? They have got some serious options, those Chelsea now, in every forward position.”
How Man Utd blundered more than once in hunt for Mbeumo
United aren’t going to catch up to the teams who qualified for the Champions League if they don’t sign players who can compete at that level. Pedro’s impact in the Club World Cup suggests that he could have been an upgrade on those that want to leave Old Trafford.
The Brazilian also looks like he is an upgrade on Mbeumo, plus he won’t be missing for a large part of the season when the African Cup of Nations gets underway halfway through the campaign. An often forgotten downside to signing players who represent African countries.
For too long, United have made too many wrong decisions when it comes to recruitment, and time will tell whether or not the right one has been made this time too. What didn’t help their cause was signing Mattheus Cunha first for £62.5m, setting the sort of price that Brentford knew would be paid.
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