It’s the day that Manchester United fans thought would never arrive, but an agreement for Bryan Mbeumo has finally been reached.
Bryan Mbeumo is all set to become a Manchester United player after an agreement worth £65m was reached with Brentford, with an additional £6m in add-ons.
Mbeumo made his preference clear for Old Trafford from the very beginning, and that allowed Man Utd to sort out a key detail in the agreement.
It can make all the difference in how the club operates in the market after signing Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha. The delay makes sense now.
Key detail in Man Utd’s Bryan Mbeumo agreement
United caught a lot of flak for their third bid for Mbeumo since it effectively meant that they ended up paying more than what Brentford’s initial asking price was.
Add to that the delay of more than a month to make it happen, and the Man Utd fans could be forgiven for having a feeling of deja vu from the days of John Murtough and Ed Woodward heading the team.
However, now that the finer details of the deal are starting to emerge, it is clear why the deal took so long, and it’s a huge boost.
It’s clear that United’s activity cannot stop after signing just two players, but their financial condition meant they would force themselves into a “sell to buy” corner after this move.
By negotiating for Mbeumo for so long, United might have found a workaround, by ensuring that the initial payment to Brentford is as little as possible.
United will reportedly pay Mbeumo’s fixed fee worth £65m in four instalments, which means that they will only be paying £16m or so to Brentford for now.
The instalments could be once every six months or once every 12 months. But, either way, it leaves them with room to spend more this summer, which was of prime importance.
Ineos have managed to negotiate even more instalments than they managed for Cunha, where Wolves stressed on three while United wanted five.
They’ve completed a masterstroke in Mbeumo negotiations, and if it allows the club to spend more without needing to sell, even the month-long delay will have been worth it.
Man Utd’s transfer policy is finally fixing
Sorting out four instalments for Mbeumo is exactly the kind of financial thinking that had been missing from United’s ranks for a long time.
The deals for players like Casemiro, Antony, and Harry Maguire completely emptied United’s cash reserves as they were done with money up front.
Combined with the vicious cycle of the club not earning their dough with performances on the pitch, it left United looking at a revolving credit facility to fund their spending.
Living on credit cards has never been a hallmark of a responsible financial institution, and Ineos are finally bringing some prudent thinking to the table.
If it takes some growing pains with slow negotiations, then it’s worth it.
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