Man Utd told why star man’s form is about to drop off a cliff, but it’s total nonsense | OneFootball

A reporter who specialises in covering Manchester United has explained why Bryan Mbeumo might struggle in the remaining games, but the reasoning given makes zero sense.

Mbeumo is widely regarded to have been a transfer hit so far, with the left-footer bagging 10 goals and three assists in his first season at Man Utd.

While those numbers might not sound overly impressive, it’s important to note he’s played just 25 matches so far.

United’s fixture list – no European football and early exits from the domestic cups – is sparser than usual. Mbeumo also spent more than a month away at AFCON with Cameroon.

One positive from the lack of fixtures, however, is United can fully focus on the Premier League and their quest to secure a top five finish. As it was last year, fifth spot should be good enough to qualify for the Champions League.

It’s boiling down to a four-way race for three spots, with Man Utd, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Liverpool in the mix for positions three, four and five.

But according to notorious Man Utd reporter, Samuel Luckhurst, Mbeumo’s form is already declining and will continue to suffer at the exact wrong time for United and their UCL ambitions.

Writing for The Sun, Luckhurst explained: ‘Plenty of United players have gone off the boil in recent weeks but Bryan Mbeumo has suffered a particularly steep drop-off.

‘United’s top scorer endured probably his worst performance for the club in the 2-1 defeat at Newcastle, which came three days after United’s previous fixture against Crystal Palace.

‘The word from Mbeumo’s old club Brentford is he could find it a challenge to play two or three games per week.

‘Mbeumo joined United in time to travel on their pre-season tour of the United States but he only played 45 minutes in their third and final friendly against Everton in Atlanta.

‘United used the majority of their training time in Chicago to up Mbeumo’s fitness levels as Brentford returned for pre-season a week after United did.

‘Mbeumo did not train on the grass in his week back with Brentford as he did not want to risk an injury that could have jeopardised his £71million switch to Old Trafford.’

Luckhurst’s comments make sense in theory, though there’s something rather obvious he’s overlooking.

Mbeumo may well struggle to play two or three times a week right now, but Man Utd don’t have two or three fixtures per week on the calendar.

As mentioned, the Premier League is the only competition they’re in, meaning just like it has been for most of the year, it’s one game per week from here on out.

The upcoming international break at the end of March shouldn’t pose a problem to Mbeumo’s fitness levels either. Cameroon are scheduled to play two games, though both are friendlies (versus Australia and China).

Given there’s nothing at stake, it would come as a surprise to see Mbeumo play the full 90 minutes in both contests. Even if he does, they’re friendlies and aren’t played at the same pace or intensity as competitive fixtures anyway.

Meanwhile, Man Utd will seal the sale of Rasmus Hojlund to Napoli, even if the conditional obligation to buy in their loan arrangement isn’t activated.

The news regarding Marcus Rashford’s permanent switch to Barcelona isn’t quite so rosy, however, with the Spanish side tabling what can only be described as a ridiculous new offer United have no intention of accepting.