Manchester United are reportedly working on the “right structure” of their transfer payment to suitably satisfy Brentford during ongoing negotiations for Bryan Mbeumo.
United’s interest in Mbeumo has been trailed all summer. Despite a dire conclusion to the campaign under Ruben Amorim, the Cameroon international is thought to have made it clear that his preference was a move to Old Trafford over any other suitor as far back as early June.
Six weeks later, Mbeumo is still a Brentford player. The west London club have no intention of making it easy for United to buy their talismanic forward, especially during a summer which has already seen the Bees lose their manager, captain and goalkeeper.
This delay, which has left Mbeumo increasingly frustrated, is thought to be caused by the finer details of United’s proposed payment plan. Fabrizio Romano claims that the two clubs are discussing “easy and difficult add-ons”. There is “optimism” at United an agreement can be struck but “no breakthrough” has been made just yet.
United’s latest offer for Mbeumo was reported to be worth a total £62.5 million ($85.7 million), with £55 million ($75.5 million) guaranteed and a further £7.5 million ($10.3 million) in bonuses. Much like Arsenal’s unravelling negotiations with Sporting CP for Viktor Gyökeres, Brentford supposedly want more money up front.
Mbeumo is poised to become Brentford’s most expensive sale regardless of the deal’s final structure, comfortably surpassing £40 million ($53 million) which the club received for Ivan Toney’s exit to Al Ahli last summer. Yet, the well-run capital outfit don’t necessarily need to cash in on Mbeumo this summer.
Almost £30 million ($40.5 million) has already been raised by the exits of Christian Nørgaard to Arsenal, Mark Flekken’s move to Bayer Leverkusen and Tottenham Hotspur’s costly poaching of Thomas Frank. If Spurs follow through with their interest in Yoane Wissa, it’s highly unlikely that Brentford would also allow Mbeumo to join the mass exodus.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Report: Why Man Utd’s Approach for Bryan Mbeumo Is Taking So Long.
