In-form forward Bryan Mbeumo has been Manchester United’s “best signing” of the season so far, according to club legend Wayne Rooney. The Cameroon international has received plenty of plaudits after inspiring the Red Devils to a remarkable upturn in form, with Ruben Amorim’s men having recorded three straight victories against Sunderland, Liverpool and Brighton.
Mbeumo has quickly become a fan favourite following Brentford switch
Mbeumo has quickly felt the love from the United faithful after making a huge impression following his summer move from Brentford. After netting in the last-gasp 3-2 victory over Burnley on 30 August, the 26-year-old then scored the opener as United collected their first win at Liverpool since 2016 on 19 October. Mbeumo followed up his heroics at Anfield with a brace in United’s 4-2 triumph over Brighton on Saturday, in an impressive run of results which have completely changed the atmosphere around Old Trafford.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportUnited legend Rooney singles out in-form Mbeumo for huge praise
And while fellow summer signings Matheus Cunha and Senne Lammens have also impressed in United’s winning run, Mbeumo has been labelled as the club’s best piece of business by Rooney. Speaking on United’s all-time top goalscorer said: "Mbeumo has been consistent with his performances, I think that's the main thing.
"If you're consistently getting in the right positions, getting chances, you will score. When you're a forward and you score goals, you enjoy scoring goals and that feeling keeps going.
"His confidence is very high at the minute. Hopefully that continues because he's certainly been the best signing for United this season."
Amorim also hailed Mbeumo's impact following the Brighton victory
Rooney is not the only person to laud Mbeumo’s impact, with manager Amorim having also paid tribute to United’s No.19 after the Brighton victory.
“He’s a working machine,” said Amorim in his post-match press conference. “He’s so good in transitions. He’s improving when we are organising the final third. The connection with Amad, it’s really hard to beat these two guys because they change position, they are really fast, they are good in one against one.
“My role was, as a manager, to explain what I want from him. But it was more the club. And you guys. We can struggle a lot, but it’s Manchester United. When Manchester United is there, and when we feel that this player wants to come here, no matter what, no matter what the position, no matter if it's Champions League or not, we also give everything to bring these kind of guys, and that was the case.”
AFPUnited captain Fernandes lauds Mbeumo, Cunha, Lammens & Sesko
Meanwhile, United captain Bruno Fernandes also expressed his delight at the arrivals of Mbeumo, Cunha and Lammens, as well as striker Benjamin Sesko, who has scored two league goals since joining from Bundesliga side RB Leipzig in August.
“I think at this club, every time I spoke with anyone who was talking with me, they were asking we need to sign good players and everything else,” Fernandes said after the Brighton win. “We need to sign big characters, not good players because at this club, being good players sometimes is not enough because of the pressure, because of the attention we get and everything. I think we brought in players that are very aware of the dimension of the club. You spoke about Cunha. Cunha has that good arrogance to do the good things and the right things, so that's something good. Bryan, also the same. He's not afraid to take the ball, to do his play, to do his things. We brought two players who were aware of the Premier League, also.
"And then we brought a very young goalkeeper and a centre-forward, they hit the ground flying (running). Obviously, we know Ben (Sesko) will be judged by scoring goals or not. But a part of that, he's been doing great, whatever he's being asked to do. He's got his goals already, and I think now it's going to come more and more because he's more than capable of scoring goals. Senne came probably with the intention of being the number one. He had to wait for his moment. The moment came and he was ready for that. So this is what this club is about. You come, the moment will be there straightaway and you have to take it.”
