It might not be too long until 'the Manchester United tax' is added to the Oxford dictionary given its a term used every transfer window. Overspending on average players has long been a problem at Old Trafford and has left the recruitment team with egg on their faces throughout the Glazer family's tyrannical run as owners.
INEOS arrival has shown signs of putting an end to United falling victim to the demands of selling clubs and agreeing to pay an extortionate amount of money that is obviously way above a player's value. An example of this was the £82m paid for Antony in the summer of 2022 after spending months weighing up an offer.
The Red Devils' scouting team had reportedly valued the Brazilian winger at just £25m when first setting their sights on him, per OneFootball. It just goes to show how easy selling clubs have had it when holding negotiations.
A similar scenario nearly occurred over one of this summer's new faces, and INEOS quite rightly took umbrage with this.
Man United angry with Brentford over Bryan Mbeumo deal
The news of Bryan Mbeumo officially becoming a Red Devil lost excitement because of how long negotiations between the club and Brentford took. The two clubs eventually agreed on a £71m total package deal for the Cameroonian.
It was over a month ago that Mbeumo made Old Trafford his preference amid interest from Newcastle United and Arsenal. Once this became known it felt like a switch was inevitable and would take little time but boy were we wrong.
United failed with two bids for the 25-year-old worth up to £62.5m but the Bees stood firm on their valuation. Many believed they were after £70m but they seemingly used interest from elsewhere to raise their asking price.
It's now come to light that Brentford were a real nuisance during the transfer saga. BBC Sport's Simone Stone wrote on his X account:
"Man Utd felt Brentford dragged this out. Brentford felt they could get bigger fee elsewhere and cheekily told Mbeumo if Utd wouldn’t pay £70m + £7m they wanted, he could reduce his salary to make up difference. Utd believe deal proves they remain a draw."
Mbeumo only wanted United, the club he grew up supporting and we are delighted to have him on board to take the right number 10 role in Ruben Amorim's side. He was one of the Premier League's in-form forwards last season, registering 20 goals.
The frustration that INEOS felt during negotiations was understandable given the fanbase grew impatient and felt it was them who were holding up a deal. This transfer should be a benchmark moving forward to show selling clubs that we won't cater as we did before.
Mbeumo has already trained with his new teammates
On the positive side of things a deal is done and Mbeumo has fulfilled his dreams of becoming a United player. He has even participated in his first training session with his new teammates ahead of a pre-season tour in the United States.
Bryan's first session as a Red 😤 pic.twitter.com/EH26lF7tW6
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 22, 2025
Mbeumo, who has taken the no.20 jersey, spoke to the club's media about the move and said he'd joined "the biggest club in the world". One of the main factors in INEOS' continuous pursuit was the player's intention to make the move, as well as his snubbing of interest from Champions League competing sides.
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