It’s an all too familiar Manchester United transfer trope, and it’s happening once again. United want Brentford FC forward Bryan Mbeumo, and to get him, they will need to pay a premium. It’s all happening in a manner similar to how we said it would, just two days ago. When this transfer rumor first surfaced, we wrote: “United place a big money bid on a player who wants to join them, but the club on the other side of the negotiating table says no.”
United then return with a bid amount that’s closer to, if not actually at, what the other clubs wants.
According to multiple outlets, Brentford want £60m plus for the 25-year-old Cameroon international, and United are back with a new and improved offer. The £55m (£45m + £10m in add-ons) that United already bid just won’t cut it. According to ESPN the new bid is “worth more than £60m.”
This is a very common occurrence with United’s transfer business. It sort of feels like it happens every summer window- clubs playing hardball with Old Trafford until they extract the fee that they wanted all along. Call it the “Manchester United premium.” In setting the price, Brentford are taking their cues from Wolverhampton Wanderers, who just got United to pay the £62.5m release clause for another striker, Matheus Cunha.
That’s how they arrived at their so-called “ballpark figure.” There is also past precedent to work on, with the likes of Antony (Ajax), Bruno Fernandes (Sporting Lisbon), Paul Pogba (Juventus), Harry Maguire (Leicester City), Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund), and so on and so on.
So I think you know how the Bryan Mbeumo transfer saga ends!
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter