Ahead of Bryan Mbeumo's return to Brentford with Manchester United on Saturday (12:30 BST kick-off), Opta Analyst's Ryan Benson looks at how he has performed for his new club so far.
Bryan Mbeumo seems to have settled quickly at Man Utd. While it’s not the case that goal involvements have flowed freely for him, the Cameroon international has been prominent in his outings and there are already signs of his new employers looking to exploit certain aspects of his game.
It won’t have been lost on Man Utd just how active Mbeumo was during his time as a Brentford player. He barely stood still.
When the Bees weren’t in possession, he worked tirelessly, with his 2,250 total pressures in the Premier League last season ranking him ninth among all players.
But this work ethic was evident when Brentford were in possession as well.
The only player in the Premier League last season who made more off-ball runs than Mbeumo (891) was Crystal Palace's energetic wing-back Daniel Munoz (959).
Of Mbeumo's 891 off-ball runs, 418 were in behind the opposition’s defence; Ollie Watkins (410) was the only other Premier League player to tally at least 390 off-ball runs in behind last season.
Mbeumo spent so much of his time looking to trigger balls beyond the opposition’s defence, confident in the knowledge he had the speed, strength and technical quality to make the most of such situations when the ball did make it to him.
Prime examples of him capitalising on these opportunities include his first goal at home to Brighton & Hove Albion in April.
And a few months before that, when he scored at Chelsea in December.
It’s worth saying that by no means did such instances make up the majority of Mbeumo's goals last season, but Man Utd certainly seemed to appreciate the weapon this could be. And the data around his off-ball running speaks for itself.
The best, most successful example of this in action for Man Utd came just last weekend when Mbeumo burst forward to latch on to Benjamin Sesko's headed flick-on, racing clear before being taken out by Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez after just four minutes.
The Spaniard was sent off and that was a pivotal moment in Man Utd's eventual 2-1 win.
In this season of throwback trends, the sight of the towering Sesko flicking headers on for Mbeumo in something of a "little and large" partnership up top very much fits the brief.
Furthermore, it was a moment of danger that almost certainly wouldn’t have come about if Rasmus Hojlund was still leading the line instead of Sesko.
Man Utd's attempts to release players in behind this season won’t be a coincidence as it’s been notable in some of their most dangerous periods of play in 2025/26.
And it stands to reason; almost everyone Ruben Amorim has fielded in his front three this season is quick, dynamic and capable of carrying the ball over long distances.
And with Matheus Cunha – who thrived for Wolverhampton Wanderers in transition-based attacks – now back from injury, Man Utd's hope will be that the dynamism and interchangeability of the front three becomes a great asset.
But Mbeumo – generally taking up slightly narrower positions than last season – is the one who’s looked most attuned to this.
Again, when looking at total off-ball runs, Mbeumo is right up there. His 128 in that metric puts him second among all players after Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez (138), though the Man Utd attacker is out in front when it comes to runs in behind (83).
His closest challenger is Watkins (69), while Viktor Gyokeres (60) is the only other player with more than 53.
Of course, Mbeumo’s early contributions at Man Utd go beyond just putting one foot in front of the other at speed.
A return of two goal involvements (two goals, no assists) in all competitions is steady, albeit modest, though he’s tallied the most minutes (429) of any attacker for the team who’ve generated the most Expected Goals (xG) (10.1) in the Premier League this season.
Their 2.03 xG per game is Man Utd's best average on record (since 2011/12) in a single Premier League season, while their 1.71 non-pen xG per game is their third best on record.
Map of Man Utd's shots | Premier League 25/26
We do obviously have to be careful not to read too much into xG so early in the campaign, as such a small sample size means the data can be skewed or be seen out of context. But it is a positive sign considering how tough Man Utd’s start to the campaign has been, with their first five matches including meetings with three of last season's top four teams — Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City.
Mbeumo’s certainly contributing to the threat they’ve carried. Only Erling Haaland (21) has had more shots in the Premier League this season than him, with Mbeumo’s 15 attempts being the most by a player in their first five league matches for Man Utd since Antony in 2022 (18).
Map of Mbeumo's shots | Man Utd 25/26
He’s also created nine opportunities for team-mates, putting him joint eighth in that respect.
When we look at both metrics a little deeper, the extent of Mbeumo’s attacking impact becomes even clearer as his non-penalty expected goal involvements (Expected Goals + Expected Assists) of 3.1 is second only to Haaland (6.7).
Mbeumo is the only player in the Premier League with at least 1.0 non-pen xG and 1.0 xA to his name this season.
Map of Mbeumo's high xA passes + assists | Man Utd 25/26
As noted before, it’s early days of course, and it’s also worth pointing out that Mbeumo’s performances haven’t been excellent across the board.
He was ineffective for the first hour in the derby against Man City, his first shot – of four, eventually – not arriving until the 61st minute, by which point Man Utd were 2-0 down.
Having said that, it probably wouldn’t be realistic to expect the level of output that he produced at Brentford last season anyway.
After all, his 7.5 overperformance relative to non-penalty xG (15 non-penalty goals, 7.6 non-penalty xG) was a massive deviation from his previous years in the Premier League.
Map of Mbeumo's shots and goals | Brentford 24/25
In 2023/24, Mbeumo underperformed relative to non-penalty xG by 1.4; the season before that, he underperformed by 0.8; in 2021/22, he only scored three non-penalty goals from 8.8 non-penalty xG.
But the signs are at least still positive even if tempered by early-season caveats. Man Utd needed more players who were capable of being reliable when it came to creating or influencing goalscoring chances and happy operating in more central spaces.
At the moment, from his right-sided No 10 position, Mbeumo is generally passing the tests laid out before him despite Man Utd’s attack still being relatively unsettled and unfamiliar.
There’ll be plenty of noise around Mbeumo’s return to Brentford, but the numbers help cut through it. His off-ball movement remains excellent, his chance involvement is trending upwards and he’s quickly become a central figure in Man Utd’s attack.
Whether the goals flow like last season or not, the underlying data reflects a player who’s quietly but efficiently improving the productivity of Man Utd's frontline — which is precisely what he was signed for.