Bryan Mbeumo has already done something Marcus Rashford never did at Man Utd

As the dust settles on a season in which Manchester United were as hopeless in the final third as they have ever been, the club's early summer strategy is encouraging. United scored 44 times in 38 Premier League games last season, a tally only superior to Everton and the three comfortably relegated teams.

In starting his summer business by recruiting Matheus Cunha from Wolves, Ruben Amorim is bringing 15 goals to his ranks. If you add Bryan Mbeumo to the mix? Well, that's a combined 35 goals, just nine shy of United's tally as a club. It would surely be impossible to be as toothless next season.

Brentford have good reason to drag their heels and demand a fee similar to the £62.5million that United paid for Cunha if they are to part ways with Mbeumo.

The 25-year-old forward was only outscored by three players in the Premier League last season - Mohamed Salah (29), Alexander Isak (23), and Erling Haaland (20).

You could delve further and raise the fact that Mbeumo was also one of just four players to have 70-plus shots and create 70-plus chances.

His impending teammate Bruno Fernandes, Player of the Season Salah, and Cole Palmer represent impressive company.

Let's stick to goals, though. Mbeumo notched up 20 of them - as well as eight assists - which almost made up a third of Brentford's 66 on their way to a top-half finish.

You would only have to watch their respective performances in the last couple of seasons to suggest that Cunha and Mbeumo are both upgrades on Marcus Rashford.

In truth, they are upgrades on the exiled quartet who United are desperate to offload in the coming weeks - Rashford, Antony, Jadon Sancho and Alejandro Garnacho.

The former has been the Red Devils' poster boy for most of his decade in the senior squad, though. Yet, he has never achieved a season like Mbeumo's 2024/25.

Rashford has gone closest to 20 Premier League goals when he recorded 17 in the 19/20 and 22/23 campaigns.

Apart from that, he doesn't boast a record that suggests his reputation as an untouchable talent was warranted before Amorim thought otherwise.

Rashford's last four league campaigns have produced six, seven, 17 and four goals.

In the same seasons, Mbeumo managed 20, four and nine twice. It's a higher tally in a team that finished 12, 16 and 21 points behind United in the three campaigns before last term's nightmare at Old Trafford.

It isn't out of pocket whatsoever to suggest that not only could Mbeumo represent an upgrade, but he could be more worthy of the 'poster boy' title than Rashford ever was.