Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank has raved about a Manchester United star he wanted to sign before the Red Devils snapped him up in the summer of 2025.
Spurs will take on Man Utd at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon. Tottenham have lost two of their last three league games and are in sixth place in the table, while Man Utd have won three of their last four and are level on points with the north London outfit in eighth.
One of the main reasons behind Man Utd’s recent good run of results is the form of Bryan Mbeumo.
The Cameroon international forward has scored five goals and given one assist in 11 appearances for Man Utd so far this season.
Mbeumo – who cost Man Utd a total of £71million (€81m, $93.5m), including add-ons, when they signed him from Brentford in the summer of 2025 – was voted the Premier League Player of the Month for October for three goals and one assist in the Red Devils’ three games.
Tottenham manager Thomas Frank worked with Mbeumo at Brentford, and ahead of the match between Spurs and Man Utd in north London on Saturday, he has raved about the 26-year-old forward.
Frank tried to sign Mbeumo for Tottenham when he was appointed their manager in the summer, with The Mirror reporting in June that he had ‘told Spurs’ that he wanted to work with the forward at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The Sun also reported in June that Frank was keen on a reunion with Mbeumo at Tottenham, but it was Man Utd who eventually won the race for the star’s signature.
Frank told ESPN about Mbeumo: “When you work with a player for six years, you get a close relationship.
“To see him develop from being a young man, 19 years old when he moved to London and Brentford and left six years later, going into one of the biggest clubs in the world with all that focus and the way he stepped up.
“For me, looking from the outside, maybe a little bit biased, I think he’s been their best offensive player.
“He can create, he can score, he works hard, he’s a team player.
“He’s the perfect example, in my opinion, for a player what I call about attitude, confident but humble.
“He’s a top player. I think he will have fantastic success there.
“I hope that for him, not tomorrow, but in general I hope and wish him all the best.”
Get the inside story first by joining our TEAMtalk Facebook channel to receive the latest breaking and exclusive news straight into your Messenger inbox.
What Ruben Amorim thinks of Bryan Mbeumo
Like Tottenham boss Frank, Man Utd manager Ruven Amorim has also been hugely impressed with Mbeumo.
The London Evening Standard quotes Amorim as saying about Mbeumo: “Bryan (Mbeumo) is really direct, and we missed that last year.
“You can sense when the ball is going to our defender, he is already running to position.
“These kinds of small things that people don’t see are massive to turn our team into a more dangerous team.”
Latest Man Utd transfer news: Wolves raid, Romano bombshell
Meanwhile, Man Utd manager Ruben Amorim has told his bosses exactly what he wants in the January transfer window.
TEAMtalk’s transfer insider, Dean Jones, has reported that a Wolves star is ready to leave, with Man Utd among the clubs chasing his signature.