Today’s edition of France Football features an interview with Brentford winger Bryan Mbeumo.
The youngster made a controversial choice when opting to leave the France for the Championship last summer, as he was expected to be joining a first tier club soon.
That’s what the first questions were about, and Mbeumo seems pretty secure of the path he’s taken.
“At the start, I wanted to continue my progression in France, and the fact of being called upon by big Ligue 1 teams encouraged me to do so. But when Brentford got closer to my entourage and we started to chat with them, my choice naturally went to this club,” Mbeumo told France Football.
“When the coach and one of the two sports directors presented the project to me in detail, I thought that this could be a good option to continue my progress. Football played in the Championship and the club’s philosophy of play, made up of repeated passes and intensity, won me over.”
“When these people come to your home, knowing your profile by heart and showing you what you can bring to the team and what the team can give you in return, you cannot remain indifferent. I also attended the first game of the season at home before signing and it finished convincing me. The atmosphere is incredible here.”
Asked if he has any regrets for making the move, the player said: “No! Everything has been done to make me comfortable and I now feel perfectly fine. And then, the mood is, in all the strata of the club, super positive.”
With 13 goals and six assists in 30 appearances appearances so far, there’s a very good reason for Mbeumo to keep an eye on his statistics this season. And he says there’s something he’s been impressed with in England.
“They tell us a lot about numbers, that’s right. But they do it because the statistics can really help. And we must admit that they never lie. When we win, we realise that all of our curves are good. And vice versa. Here they control everything, so you can’t lie or cheat. But I admit that with the language barrier, there are still some super precise data whose meaning I do not quite understand (laughs).”
Asked if this is the main difference from French football, Mbeumo says there’s something else impressing him.
“The use of statistics yes, but also the number of people who are available to us to improve. In France, a staff member often has to manage several things at the same time, while here, each person has a very specific specificity. It’s pretty impressive.”
Now at the age of 20, Bryan Mbeumo will this year have his last chance of making it to France’s Olympic Squad for those under 23. He calls the opportunity ‘a dream’, and even though he’s been regularly called up, he says he will wait until the squad is announced before getting carried away.
“The Premier League has always made me dream but the road is still long, so I prefer not to think too much about it. Regarding the Olympics, it will go through good performances here at Brentford. It’s in any case a dream to represent the nation in Japan. Especially since it’s been a while since France didn’t compete, and this kind of opportunity only presents itself once in a career.”
