During this 2025-2026 new season, one of the players who arrived at Manchester United to try to awaken the sleeping giant is ex Brentford and right winger Bryan Mbeumo. He would arrive for a price of 71 million GBP.
Born on August 7, 1999, in Avallon, France, Bryan Mbeumo is a left-footed right winger who spent the early part of his career in France until 2019, playing mostly for Troyes, although he previously played for CO Avallonais and Bourgoin-Jallieu before turning professional.
While his mother is from France, his father comes from Duala, Cameroon, and this is the reason why he was born in France and holds citizenship in both countries and was able to play for Cameroon after having even played for the French U17, U20 and U21 teams.
The decision to play for Cameroon and not France was, according to him, a long and difficult one, given that he had already played for France. But his father was very proud of his decision to play for Cameroon, and he is happy about it.
Since Mbeumo’s arrival at Manchester United, the topic of his religion has grown in curiosity and although he has not spoken about this topic, it has been noted that Mbeumo is a practicing Muslim.
During his time at Brentford, the team supported him during Ramadan. In fact, the coaches arranged for the PFA to implement breaks during the match so that Mbeumo could break his fast at sunset each time he played.
On several occasions, Mbeumo has been seen growing closer to his religion.
Last year, during his final season with Brentford, he, Yoan Wissa, and Yunus Emre Konak met with a local imam to learn more about Islam and also to gain support during Ramadan.
It’s worth noting that, due to his religious affiliation, Mbeumo doesn’t consume alcohol.
This was evident when the Cameroonian recently won Manchester United‘s Player of the Month award and didn’t receive a Budweiser beer.
There have been previous cases where players haven’t received one due to their religious affiliation, and Mbeumo most likely wouldn’t accept it either.
It’s worth noting that Mbeumo isn’t the only Muslim player at Manchester United, as Dutch-born Moroccan footballer Noussair Mazraoui and Ivorian footballer Amad Diallo are also Muslim.
Amad Diallo has been one of those who has reached out most to Mbeumo since his arrival at Manchester United, and he has shared a photo of his and Mbeumo’s shirts after their match against West Ham with a message that says “Que Dieu nous protege” (May God protect us).
One issue that has generated some confusion is the fact that despite being a practicing Muslim, Mbeumo has not changed his first name since his conversion. “Bryan” is not a Muslim name as we have been able to realize.
But for those who don’t know, changing your name upon converting to Islam isn’t necessary; it’s entirely optional. If your birth name has a forbidden meaning, or if you want to differentiate yourself from other Muslims, you can do so, but it’s not something mandatory.
From what we can see, Mbeumo is quite comfortable with his name and so far there have been no plans to change it. Although we already know him worldwide as Bryan Mbeumo, it would be a bit confusing if he were to change his name, but that is entirely his decision.
A curious fact is that the city where his father comes from, Douala, is the same city where legendary striker Samuel Eto’o, one of the best strikers in history, was born.
In this city, as in almost all of Cameroon, Christianity predominates, but Islam is also a widely practiced religion.
Now Mbeumo faces possibly his biggest challenge yet: helping Manchester United revive its roots. He arrived as one of the squad’s most important players and must show why they signed him. Let’s hope he can live up to the hype.
