Bryan Mbeumo’s Man Utd debut delayed AGAIN as Ruben Amorim makes worrying admission

Bryan Mbeumo completed a £65m move from Brentford to Manchester United earlier this month but has yet to take to the pitch for the Red Devils ahead of the new season

Bryan Mbeumo must wait to make his Manchester United debut after missing their US tour-opening victory. Mbeumo, signed from Brentford for a fee rising to £71million, was not part of United’s squad for the 2-1 win over West Ham at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium.

Ruben Amorim revealed Mbeumo is behind the rest of the United squad in terms of his pre-season fitness programme, which is why he did not feature against West Ham.

Mbeumo will also not play a part in United’s second tour game, against Bournemouth, at Chicago’s Soldier Field, on Wednesday, while he builds up his fitness ahead of the start of the new season.

But Amorim hopes Mbeumo will be ready to feature in United’s final tour game, against Everton in Atlanta’s Mercedes Benz Stadium, next weekend.

“Bryan is starting slowly,” said Amorim. “He is not going to play in the next one. We hope to have Bryan in the last game [in the United States]. He’s training now, so we’ll see.”

READ MORE: Transfer news LIVE: Alexander Isak U-turn emerges, Viktor Gyokeres’ likely debut, Man Utd latestREAD MORE: Ruben Amorim reveals what has changed for Bruno Fernandes this summer after ‘frustrations’

Amorim also confirmed forward Joshua Zirkzee is recovering from a “small issue”, while Noussair Mazraoui was absent from the West Ham win due to a knock. It gives Amorim three weeks to make decisions over his side for United’s season opener against Arsenal.

Asked for his thoughts on that game, the Portuguese coach added: “I think we need to not just prepare for the games but teach the game to the players because, nowadays, the build-up from the opponents, sometimes you don’t know what is going to happen.

“A lot of midfielders dropping into the defence, the defenders starting to run. So you cannot control it like in the past, like you know they are going to build with four. These small things we need to prepare for the game but they need to understand for any situation, and we try to do that during training.”

Who else do Man United need to sign this summer? Share your thoughts in the comments below

He added: “It’s a strong team and we need to prepare all the players, and we don’t have a lot of weeks or a lot of games to prepare all the team. That can change, you saw in the second half, there are players who can play in the first game. It’s not a decision I made already.”

Before United’s first game of the season against Arsenal, they also face further friendlies against Everton and Fiorentina.

Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.