Bryan Mbuemo coach backs dream Manchester United partnership

'What Ruben likes' - Bryan Mbuemo coach backs dream Manchester United partnership

Manchester United are looking to sign Bryan Mbuemo and his former coach spoke to the Manchester Evening News about what he can bring

Bryan Mbuemo at Troyes

Bryan Mbuemo is exactly the sort of player Ruben Amorim wants at Manchester United, according to his former coach. The United manager is looking to make Mbuemo his second major signing of the summer after Wolves forward Matheus Cunha, with negotiations for the Brentford star ongoing.

United know what they are getting in a proven Premier League talent and Mbuemo may see similarities in Amorim to the coach he had back at the beginning of his playing career. Rui Almeida trained him when he was a teenager coming through the youth team at Troyes in France's second division.

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The 19-year-old would last only a year there before Brentford snapped him up in the Championship, and Almeida did not need long to see the qualities that would stand Mbuemo out among teammates.

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"He was very coachable, really humble, hungry to learn," Almeida told the Manchester Evening News. "He was really fantastic and then as a player he did really well.

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"In my opinion, he had two or three things to stand out - his physical capacities but also he thought really fast - before the ball arrived to him he already had two options in his mind. From a young age, we told him that each training had to be like a final and he caught that and got that for his life.

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"He trained like every session was really important. That maybe separated him and took him to another level from other talents that we had at his age.

"His decision-making in high pressure was really different and we saw that. After that, he was fast and dribbled and his shooting was very good also but at the time we told him, Bryan you always play right winger because he had a great left foot but I told him the challenge if he wanted to improve was to learn to play in the other positions.

"We put him as a second striker and a a striker and from there he has done so well at Brentford. If Ruben takes him, he will play all the sides of the 3-4-3."

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Almeida has had a varied coaching career, as may be expected for somebody who began at just 26. A few years in his native Portugal were followed by seven in France before jobs further afield in Algeria, Saudi Arabia and most recently Morocco.

He is six months into life at Difaa El Jadidi, and enjoying life in a country that is only growing interest in football ahead of hosting the 2030 World Cup.

Rui Almeida

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"I like the experience of the last six months and they invited me to stay," he said. "With the World Cup coming, they are improving a lot of things. The league is very competitive, Morocco came third at the last World Cup even if many of the players are in different leagues like many countries, but recently the level is increasing. This year they will start eight new stadiums in the league so the facilities are improving."

Almeida has always kept an eye out for the players he has coached along the way though, and has been thrilled to see how well Mbuemo has done in the Premier League. As United close in on a move, Almeida believes they will be signing a player who can combine well with Cunha as well as do the teamwork that is crucial to Amorim's ethos.

"Manchester United fans have been waiting for a title again for a long time so there will be pressure, and Bryan will need the team behind him to help him but he will also help the team to do good things. One thing that you always need and I see Bryan doing at Brentford is he is a team player.

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"He's very good individually but he works a lot for the team, he runs a lot for the team and defends a lot for the team so I think he is a player that Ruben likes a lot.

"I also think he's a good complement for Cunha. Sometimes in teams you need good complement for players. They are different players and teams need that difference in the forwards."

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