Arsenal told they should have signed ‘incredible’ Man Utd star Bryan Mbeumo years ago

Former Arsenal winger Theo Walcott believes the Gunners missed a trick by not launching a bid to complete a transfer for a Manchester United star a number of years ago

Arsenal should have signed Bryan Mbeumo ‘years ago’ according to former Gunners star Theo Walcott. Manchester United are reaping the benefits of that failure.

Mbeumo made a big-money move from Brentford to United over the summer, with the Red Devils footing up £71million for his services. The Gabon international has quickly looked to repay some of that fee with impressive early form at Old Trafford.

The 26-year-old has bagged five goals in his first 10 appearances for United, coming off the back of a season where he struck 20 Premier League goals for Brentford. And Walcott reckons Ruben Amorim has signed a sure thing.

Mbeumo has earned plenty of experience in the top-flight after joining Brentford as a 19-year-old in the Championship in 2019. The forward cost a club record fee of £5.8m, meaning the Bees earned a tidy profit having seen Mbeumo improve over the years.

Ex-Everton and Southampton winger Walcott reckons another of his former clubs, Arsenal, should have had the foresight to do a deal sooner. The former England ace believes United have made a good move by signing Premier League talent amid competition from Newcastle and Tottenham.

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“You have Cunha coming back and defending as well and Mbeumo who I think is outstanding,” said Walcott on It’s Called Soccer, “You look at players away from the Premier League who come into the Premier League, they take time. These guys [like Mbeumo] were built for Premier League football.

“I think Mbeumo has been incredible and he’s a player Arsenal should have bought many years ago.”

Walcott believes Mbeumo could just be the tip of the iceberg, however, and that his team-mates are starting to find their way under Amorim. The 36-year-old claims that Amorim’s system is finally starting to be understood by his squad.

“The team are understanding the way to play in his system now. When you have three at the back, you always have to have one of the centre-backs coming out into the midfield to be a third midfielder.

“Luke Shaw is that man doing that because he’s the one out of all the players that you trust to be able to cover as well. They need that if Bruno [Fernandes] and Cunha are going to work in the same team because I wasn’t so sure if they could really operate in the same team. It felt like two players that want to be in the same positions.

“However, once you get players who can step out, be confident and have that trust behind them, that’s no problem and this system works.”

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