Manchester United increase offer for Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo to £60m

Manchester United have made an improved offer of £60m to Brentford for Bryan Mbeumo, with the west London club holding out for an overall deal of £65m.

Brentford value the 25-year-old in the same bracket as Matheus Cunha, for whom United were willing to pay a £62.5m release clause from Wolves. As the Cameroon international is younger than the 26-year-old Brazilian they are holding out for a fee that, with add-ons, is worth more – around £65m.

Mbeumo can also expect to earn at least £150,000 a week, the same region of salary as Cunha. Last season Mbeumo scored 20 goals in the eague, while Cunha managed 15.

Meanwhile, Chelsea are weighing up whether to revive their interest in the United winger Alejandro Garnacho and include Christopher Nkunku a deal. The Chelsea head coach, Enzo Maresca, wants to sign a new wide player this summer. Garnacho was of interest to Chelsea in January and could become a target again if the club fail in their attempt to sign Jamie Gittens from Borussia Dortmund. Bayern have entered the race to sign Gittens.

Garnacho and Nkunku are out of favour at their respective clubs. Nkunku has struggled with injuries since joining Chelsea two years ago and has not been a regular under Maresca. The versatile France forward is an option for United, although sources have cautioned that they have other targets in his position, including Mbeumo.

While no formal contact with United has yet been made regarding Nkunku, Chelsea are expected to do so. Last January the United head coach, Ruben Amorim, considered a move for the forward, although he was considered a stopgap option at that time.

Nkunku was signed for £52m in summer 2023 but has managed only 43 appearances, scoring 14 times. The France international has played only six minutes at the Club World Cup – entering as a substitute in Chelsea’s 2-0 opening group game win against Los Angeles FC. On Monday Maresca, insisted: “Christo is with us. He is our player. He is doing very well in the last four or five days to be honest. So probably also we can think of giving him some chances.”

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While Nkunku is open to the transfer, Amorim’s bid for a fresh centre-forward is proving a struggle. The Portuguese’s No 1 target this summer, Liam Delap, chose to join Chelsea instead, while his hope of signing Sporting’s Viktor Gyökeres has receded due to the Swede’s preference for Arsenal.

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