On 21st July 2025, Manchester United completed the signing of 25-year-old Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford for around £65m (plus add-ons) to bolster Ruben Amorim’s flailing attack. In an apparent case of ‘one in, one out’, it was also reported that Marcus Rashford will depart for Barcelona in a half-season-long loan deal, with the option to buy the former England attacker for a knockdown price of €35m.
In this article, we’ll look at what Mbeumo will bring to Old Trafford as the Red Devils hope for a much better season than 2024/25. We’ll also consider whether Rashford might resurrect his stuttering career at one of the greatest football clubs in Europe.
Mbeumo to Bring Creativity and Goals to United’s Attack
BREAKING: Man United sign Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford for an initial £65m plus £6m in add-ons 🔴 pic.twitter.com/7gd4bB98ya
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) July 21, 2025
Although often employed as a right winger, left-footed Mbeumo can feasibly play on either flank on indeed down the middle, as he showed to great effect for Brentford in his six seasons at the club. He came through the youth system at French side Troyes and made 46 appearances for the first team, scoring 12 goals. He moved to Bretford, who were playing the Championship at the time, in August 2019, and became a key player for the Bees. He was pivotal in helping Brentford gain promotion to the Premier League through the play-offs at the end of the 2020/21 season, and indeed in helping them stay in the top flight ever since.
For a club of Brentford’s size, Premier League finishes of 13th, 9th, 16th and 10th are impressive, and Mbeumo’s goals and assists have been significant. He pitched in with a few goals in the first three seasons in the EPL, but it was after the departure of Ivan Toney (who left for the Saudi pot of gold in August 2024) that Mbeumo really shone. Scoring 20 league goals in 2024/25, only three players managed more: Mohamed Salah (29), Alexander Isak (23) and Erling Haaland (22).
Although born in Avallon in France, Mbeumo represents the Cameroon national team, for whom he has scored six goals at the time of writing. In total, he’s scored 42 goals and provided 28 assists in 136 appearances for Brentford. Whether he will be able to get 20+ goals for United remains to be seen, but if he does, he will quickly become a fan favourite, and the Red Devils will certainly finish a lot higher than the abysmal position of 15th last term. The hope is that he will form an effective understanding with the other big attacking signing, Matheus Cunha, who scored 15 goals in 33 league matches last term. United fans will be crossing their fingers and toes!
Rashford Seeks Redemption in Barca
To say Marcus Rashford’s career has gone off the boil is something of an understatement. He hasn’t scored more than 10 league goals in a season since 2022/23 (when he got 17 in 35 EPL games, plus another 13 goals in other competitions). If we were being hyper-critical, we could suggest that Rashford has never truly lived up to his potential and that, while he’s shown regular sparks of greatness, he has lacked the consistency and focus to be classified as a top-class player. He’s played in 10 Premier League campaigns and scored only 87 goals in 287 appearances, not even a goal every three matches. Given that he played as centre forward for many of those appearances, that is not a fantastic return.
However, time might be on Rashford’s side… just about. Despite making his Premier League debut way back in February 2016, he’s still only 27 years old. His time at Old Trafford has largely coincided with relative turmoil at the club (compared to the preceding Alex Ferguson era). Of course, he’s won a few trophies: two FA Cups, two League Cups and the Europa League. But can Rashford finally achieve personal success by putting in excellent performances on a consistent basis?
The jury will be out, but if he’s given game time at Barcelona, it is up to the player to prove his worth, to his new club and potentially to England. However, will he get that game time? Raphinha and Lamine Yamal will surely be Barca’s first-choice pair on the flanks, so Rashford will have to really impress whenever he does get on the pitch, in whatever position that may be.
Rashford has 62 England caps and 17 goals, and last played for the Three Lions under new boss Thomas Tuchel in the World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia in March 2025. He wasn’t selected for the matches in June 2025, however, and whether he returns to the England fold in time for the World Cup will very much depend on how he performs for his new La Liga club.
How Many Other Players Will United Sign?
Now the Red Devils have offloaded Rashford (for half a season, at least!), they have just a little more wriggle room in the transfer market, partly because Rashford’s wages were so astronomical. There are a couple more players Amorim would dearly love to ditch sooner rather than later, with the sale of Alejandro Garnacho top of his wish list. He’s linked with Chelsea, who certainly are not averse to splashing the cash, and they might view Garnacho as a fair replacement for Noni Madueke, who’s joined Arsenal.
Jadon Sancho is another thorn in United’s side that Amorim would love to see the back of. The same could be said for Anthony, though few clubs will be rushing to sign either player. Indeed, rivals might only turn to that pair if they miss out on their primary transfer targets, which is not ideal for United who would obviously prefer to sell imminently so they can reinvest before the window closes or, perhaps more pertinently, before all the best players are snapped up by other clubs.
Speaking of which, several players with whom United had been linked are heading to their Premier League rivals. Hugo Ekitike, for instance, is on the verge of a move from Eintracht Frankfurt to Liverpool. At the same time, it seems likely that Swedish scoring sensation Viktor Gyokeres is bound for Arsenal, unless something dramatic happens. So even if the Red Devils manage to offload all the players who clearly have no future at the club, it’s hardly going to be rich pickings for Amorim in the transfer market, especially when it comes to top-class attackers. Maybe he should have made his peace with Rashford after all?