Manchester United’s Bryan Mbeumo is set to be Cameroon’s captain for AFCON, according to L’Equipe 237 and others in the country.
On the face it, that’s great news for both the player and his club. A further motivated Mbeumo with added responsibility at 26-years-of-age is a positive scenario for the Premier League club.
However, it doesn’t come without worry. The reason Mbeumo has been pushed up a few places is that Andre Onana and Vincent Aboubakar has been excluded from the squad. Or one of the squads.
Marc Brys was appointed Cameroon manager last year and was expected to guide them through AFCON. However, there’s something of a civil war in the country’s football governance, with Samuel Eto’o a prominent character on one side.
That side wanted Brys out, and appointed David Pagou.
However, Brys is being defiant and insists he hasn’t actually been officially sacked. Subsequently, two Cameroon squads have been announced.
Onana and Aboubakar have been excluded from Pagou’s squad, with it even being claimed the latter is out so he can’t reach Eto’s goalscoring record.
All of this sees a player power vacuum, and Manchester United’s Bryan Mbeumo is the lucky man to fill it.
Good luck Bryan!