Bryan Mbeumo’s clear message over Man Utd team-mate’s transfer links | Football | Sport
Manchester United summer recruit Bryan Mbeumo has revealed Joshua Zirkzee as the team-mate who has taken him by surprise the most since his arrival at the club.
Mbeumo completed a £65million switch from Brentford to United during the summer window and has made a strong impression at Old Trafford. But it’s not been quite as easy for Zirkzee, who joined the Red Devils from Bologna for £36.5million 12 months earlier.
The Dutch forward has managed nine goals across 67 games in all competitions for United. By contrast, Mbeumo has already found the net 10 times in just 23 matches across all competitions for the club.
When questioned whether anyone had surprised him since arriving at the club, he gestured towards Zirkzee, who was sitting next to him and said: “This guy on my left.
“To be honest, I’m not watching football a lot, so obviously, when I joined, I knew the players but I didn’t know really how they were playing and I was really impressed with Josh because he’s a lot more skilful than I would have thought, with the ball and he can just hold the ball very easy with his body and a good strike.”
The remarks arrive following intense speculation linking Zirkzee with a departure from United during the January transfer window. Italian outfit Roma had expressed interest, with reports from Italy even claiming the player had reached agreement on personal terms for the transfer.
However, Zirkzee remained determined to stay and compete for his position at Old Trafford. United also maintained a firm stance regarding a possible sale, with Roma’s director of football Frederic Massara revealing: “Man United said no quite clearly a couple of weeks ago and they have not changed their minds.”
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Speaking in early January, prior to his dismissal, then United manager Ruben Amorim also outlined his own stance. “I want to keep Josh because he gives everything and he’s trying in training but we don’t know,” he said.
“The window is open and we will see what happens. We just need to focus on training and to take this for the other games.”
Despite staying at the club, Zirkzee has struggled to secure consistent playing time recently. Following his recovery from an injury that ruled him out of two matches, the forward has managed just 11 minutes across four Premier League fixtures under interim manager Michael Carrick, appearing as a late substitute in the victory against Tottenham and the draw with West Ham.
