Manchester United remain relaxed over their pursuit of Brentford ace Bryan Mbeumo and are still considered the favourites to sign him in the summer transfer window.
United saw an opening bid of £45 million plus a further £10m in add-ons rejected by Brentford earlier this month and remain in negotiations with the London club ahead of a revised formal offer. It is understood the next official bid could be United's final proposal as they look to get their business done as early as possible this summer.
Brentford are holding out for a fee in the region of the £62.5m United have agreed to pay for Matheus Cunha, while Ruben Amorim's side are hopeful they can reach an agreement for a lower fee than the current asking price. Mbeumo has privately indicated he would prefer to join United this summer despite Thomas Frank’s appointment at Tottenham Hotspur. The Dane managed Mbeumo for six years, though his move to North London was not much of a surprise and is something the player would have been aware of before he prioritised an Old Trafford transfer.
00:00Manchester United remain confident of winning the race to sign Brentford star Brian Mbwemo in the summer transfer window.
00:07United of course saw an opening bid for the Brentford ace rejected earlier in the month.
00:12That one was £45 million up front with £10 million in additional add-ons.
00:18It's understood that Brentford want a fee closer to £60 million for the forward.
00:24Of course that's a similar amount to the figure United have agreed to pay for Matthias Cunha from Wolves and Brentford are using that as a benchmark for the type of money they can expect for their own attacking ace.
00:36United most likely to submit a second bid shortly and that will be perhaps a final offer.
00:43They don't want to waste time chasing too many targets this summer.
00:46You know Ruben Amarim wants to get new players in as early as possible ideally have the bulk of his squad assembled for the pre-season tour of the United States which takes place in a month's time.
00:59Matthias Cunha will be the star of that at this rate and like we said there's still confidence that Mbwemo will become a United player despite strong interest from Tottenham.
01:07They could offer him a higher salary and of course Champions League football as well as a reunion with former manager Thomas Frank.
01:14But Mbwemo is understood to have given his word to Manchester United that they are still his preference at this moment in time as long as the two clubs can agree on a fee.
01:24That kind of is the sticking point at the moment.
01:26It's not believed to be an issue with the player itself but more so United and Brentford coming to a compromise on what they both believe is a fair price for a player of its quality.
01:37After that United will of course move on to striker targets.
01:40This is still a very open race, one that we expect to drag on for a few more weeks now.
01:44They're still not really a standout candidate for that role.
01:48Jocheres, Ozyman and Eketike are all options for that position but they've all got different sort of variables and issues with them.
01:59Ozyman wages were very high initially.
02:02Obviously Jocheres is believed to prefer a move to Arsenal and Hugo Eketike, well he could cost the most out of the three of them.
02:10So that is a very fluid situation.
02:12And then you look at player sales as well because United's budget could almost be eaten up if they get Mbwemo and Cunha into the squad.
02:20It means that sounding a striker would rely on getting players out the door.
02:24The issue is that Marcus Rashford's been attracting loan interest rather than permanent interest.
02:28United could still send him out on loan if a team pays the bulk of his wages and a loan fee.
02:35Same with Anthony, he's happy to drop his wages to seal and exit this summer but it's still a big package to get him out of the club.
02:41And it's the same case of Alejandro Garnaccio and Jadon Sancho.
02:44There's interest but it's just whether a team is prepared to pay a permanent fee for them.
02:49Which of course is Manchester United's priority rather than just kicking the can down the road with a temporary loan exit.
02:55And as the summer goes on, United's hand will weaken with player sales.
02:59Right now it's very easy to say you want to get rid of all of them.
03:02But the closer we get to deadline day, if those players are still at the club,
03:05then they might have to accept that it's either to send them out on loan or don't send them out at all.
03:10Ruben Amarine, like I said, wants to have the bulk of a squad in place for the pre-season tour that begins next month.
03:14But the headline news for you is that Manchester United still remain confident in a deal to sign Brian Mbwemo this summer.
