Bryan Mbeumo has opened up on his strategy to help deal with the intense scrutiny of being a Manchester United player.
Mbeumo settling in at United Mbeumo is still getting a feel of his surroundings at United, having just joined the club from Brentford in a deal worth around £70m.
He enjoyed a superb 2024/25 season at the Gtech Community Stadium, netting a career-high 20 Premier League goals. Only Mohamed Salah, Erling Haaland and Alexander Isak found the back of the net more times than Mbeumo.
After weeks of pursuing him, United finally landed their man. Mbeumo travelled with the team to the US for their pre-season tour and turned out for the game against Everton. The Cameroonian also featured last weekend vs. Fiorentina, getting a first taste of action at Old Trafford.
Mbeumo has shown very promising signs of his brilliance and there is certainly reason to be excited about what he can go on to achieve at United.
Ahead of the start of the 2025/26 campaign Mbeumo spoke to TNT Sports and addressed a number of topics including how to deal with the increased attention of being a United player, working with fellow new signings Benjamin Sesko and Matheus Cunha, life so far under Ruben Amorim and his ambitions.
Mbeumo’s remarks on pressure at United and ambitions for the season On the fan frenzy United sparked in the US, Mbeumo said, “I found it crazy, to be honest. When I arrived in America for the pre-season camp, the fan base is massive and you don’t really expect it until you actually feel it in real life, until you actually join the club.”
“Of course it’s impressive but at the end we are playing football to give people joy, so it’s nice to do that.”
On how he plans to deal with it, he answered, “It’s one of the biggest clubs in the world, so obviously there is a lot of expectation from people.”
“Everything you’re doing is watched by people, but I think you need to try to think about something else and not always being focussed on who is watching you. And try to do your best, and play your football.”
Mbeumo explained that he also intends to occasionally lean into some of his off-pitch passions including chess to unwind from the pressures of United.
Asked what would constitute a successful season for United, Mbeumo said, “In my personal thinking, I always want to finish as high as possible. I think we want to try to get back to Europe as soon as possible. Of course it’s going to be tough, it’s not going to be easy, we’re going to work a lot together.”
“For Manchester United we need to fight for this every year, and that’s what we’re going to try to do. It’s a matter of time [until United return to the top of the game]. Of course it’s not going to happen like that easily.”
“We’re going to put some big work on this and being together and just try to get a good spirit, which we have at the moment. I think this is the most important [thing], because everyone is helping the others to step up.”
Mbeumo speaks out on working with Amorim, Cunha and Sesko The former Brentford man revealed that Amorim has not set him any specific targets for the upcoming season.
“No, he didn’t. I didn’t either, I don’t like to put any limits on myself, so I don’t think about this.”
He continued about Amorim, “I think it’s the mentality and the joy he brings into the trainings. I think he’s someone who likes to give energy on the pitch, even sometimes some smiles and stuff. So I think it’s really cool to work [with him].”
“Cunha is a really good player, it’s good that we could share some trainings on the pitch together because it’s always important to have good automatisms in the team, and a strong link in front.”
“[We’ve been doing] some striker works, some forward works. I think we still have some freedom up front, but there are some principles to respect. I don’t expect anything [in terms of playing positions]. I think obviously it’s going to be the manager’s choice to play the players.”
“Obviously I think it’s important to be able to play different positions, so I’m going to be playing wherever I can.”
On Sesko, the 26-year-old noted, “He looks like a cool guy. We’re just being normal, just having normal conversations. He’s a good guy.”
“I think it’s important [to help people settle], especially when you come from another league and you don’t really know [things here].”
“I think it’s important to make them feel at home already. I think everyone is doing this naturally, we don’t really calculate anything, but I think this is really important.”
Mbeumo and his teammates are back in action on Sunday when they face Arsenal at Old Trafford in their 2025/26 Premier League season opener.
Featured image Molly Darlington via Getty Images
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Derick Kinoti Derick Kinoti is a football writer at The Peoples Person who has covered Manchester United and the game extensively for many years. He is a keen analyst with expertise in SEO and journalism standards. Derick is convinced Wayne Rooney is the true GOAT and won’t hear otherwise!
