BRYAN MBEUMO has hailed Ollie Watkins as a “complete striker” – as Manchester United ramp up their interest in the Aston Villa star.
Mbeumo, United’s £71million recruit, played with Watkins, 29, in his first season at Brentford, when they scored 42 goals between them.
Bryan Mbeumo has hailed Ollie Watkins as a ‘complete striker’ amid Man Utd linksGetty
Watkins has been tipped with a summer move to Man UtdGetty
PAMbeumo and Watkins formed a prolific strike partnership for one season at Brentford[/caption]
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United have now made the England striker top of a two-man shortlist, alongside Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko, as they seek to give Ruben Amorim a new line leader.
And Mbeumo, 25, hinted he would love to be reunited with his old Bees mucker as he said: “Ollie is a complete striker.
“He can do a lot of things. He can drop to be available or go in behind.
“And that is really good for me as a winger because you can use his space to fit in there. Plus he can combine as well. It’s really good.”
Mbeumo’s endorsement, in an interview on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, came as United focused on Watkins and Sesko as their options, with a move for Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson discounted.
Although any move may be dependent on finding a taker for £72m flop Rasmus Hojlund.
Contact has been made with the entourages of both potential targets, with Watkins’ proven Premier League experience a major plus
The England striker has scored 75 top flight goals since moving to Villa Park.
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While Villa have dismissed all suggestions of an approach and insisted Watkins is not for sale at any price, they did offer him to Arsenal in the January window, before performing a U-turn after selling Jhon Duran instead.
Mbeumo, meanwhile, cannot wait to get out in front of 76,000 at Old Trafford every fortnight – even if a delayed pre-season means he may have to wait for his United bow,
He said: “You want to play on the greatest stages in the world. And Old Trafford is one of them.
“So being able to play here every two weeks is just big.
“When I spoke properly with the gaffer, he said ‘we are people who like winning, and we want to be the best team’, and of course that’s what we will try to do.
“We had a very friendly and constructive conversation. He explained his project to me, what he wanted to do and I really clicked on that.
“I’m someone who likes a challenge. As a forward, you always want to make an imprint in the game, helping people to score or scoring yourself.
”I always want to be better than I was yesterday. I’m very demanding of myself and try to do my best. I don’t like to put limits on myself.”
Mbeumo admitted he had spoken to both former boss Thomas Frank at Spurs and Newcastle but that his heart had been set in United and he “never had any doubts that it would happen”.
The forward, who scored a career-best 20 Premier League goals last season, does not suffer stage fright when he laces up his boots.
However, he is nervous about potentially playing the piano as part of his “initiation” ceremony.
Mbeumo thinks he is “not bad” at tickling the ivories but laughed: “The thing is, I don’t really like to play the piano in front of people.
“It’s funny, but it’s so different.
“Even if I play in front of a couple of friends at home, I’m not exactly shaking but it’s, ‘Oh guys, this is kind of hard for me’.”
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