Manchester United transfer news as Brentford’s hunt for Bryan Mbeumo’s replacement could finally seal agreement
Josh is a Senior Football Writer for Reach PLC’s Central Audience Team. Having previously spent over a year at football.london as a trends writer, Josh has experience covering Leicester City for the Leicester Mercury. You can find Josh’s work across Reach PLC sides such as Manchester Evening News, football.london, Liverpool Echo, LeedsLive and many more.
Manchester United still want to sign Bryan Mbeumo(Image: Getty Images)
Time is running out for both Manchester United and Brentford to agree on a deal for Bryan Mbeumo.
Over a month since the news broke of United’s interest in the forward, Mbeumo is still a Brentford player. Despite the player giving his green light to the move and United prioritising the deal over anything else, an agreement has still not been struck.
An opening offer of £55million and improved bid in excess of £60m have both been turned down by the Premier League side. To their right, Brentford are holding firm on their hope of getting a fee they want.
Mbeumo is under contract at the Gtech Community Stadium for one more year with the club holding the option to extend for a further 12 months. Demand dictates the market but selling clubs are also able to demand what they value the asset.
This week, it’s been suggested that the Bees have increased their asking price to £70m, £5m more than the £65m previously tipped. The delay has reportedly caused frustration in United’s and Mbeumo’s camps with club chiefs spending the last five weeks trying to get the deal over the line.
Fortunately, Brentford have seemingly moved to replace their top goalscorer with Ipswich Town’s Omari Hutchinson. Following their relegation from the Premier League, Hutchinson was understood to have a release clause worth £35m.
Similar to Liam Delap, who joined Chelsea for £30m last month, Hutchinson is in high demand from Premier League clubs with the Bees making their move. It’s believed that the release clause, though, expired on Tuesday night.
And as a result, Brentford’s first bid of £35m has been turned down by Ipswich. BBC Sport has claimed that the bid wasn’t packaged with the fee coming up front. It means the Bees will have to return with an improved offer or look elsewhere.
It’s a position which, because of Brentford’s tough stance in the window, United find themselves in with Mbeumo. The benefit could lie in the reality that the Bees find themselves in now. There’s still a real possibility that the Reds sign Mbeumo meaning Keith Andrews will need a replacement.
Ipswich, like Brentford, are in a position to demand whatever they want for Hutchinson. If the Bees are set on signing the highly-talented England Under-21 international, a sale of Mbeumo and influx of cash could work in their favour.
Brentford’s move for Hutchinson and hope to get him to the capital could be the trigger to force the Bees to finally settle on an agreement with United to bring Mbeumo to Old Trafford.
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