Mbeumo & Wharton: The Answer to Replacing Bruno?
Bruno’s departure would leave a massive hole. Here’s what he brings, where he falls short, and how Wharton and Mbeumo might fill the void.
Let be real, there are no like-for-like replacements for Bruno. Players with his combination of ability and mentality don’t grow on trees, so replacing him is no small task. I did my best to come up with some solutions.
Bruno is originally a 10 who thrives between the opposition’s midfield and defensive lines where he receives, creates, and scores. He’s a constant threat in the final third, and a leader who sets the tone for pressing from the front.
However, because United lack a proper conductor or deep-lying passer/playmaker, Bruno has been forced to play deeper than he should. His temperament, lack of strength to shield, and ball manipulation means he loses the ball too often under pressure.
When the game needs to slow down and circulate, he often forces play forward. He’s improved his ball retention over time in this role, but still gets exposed every now and then especially against aggressive sides. Example, Youri Tielemans is also a player with good passing but has even worse physical attributes, yet still thrives in a similar role due to his ability to carefully choose when to conserve or progress.
Adam Wharton is a player that’ll plug a hole that’s existed even with Bruno on the pitch. He creates chances from deep and is naturally more conservative. He reasonably understands when to slow the game down and when to speed it up. His passing is also nothing short of excellent, as he uses varying techniques with top quality execution. That makes him a great option to handle the deeper midfield role Bruno has been forced into, while also maintaining some creativity from deep. Off ball, he’s a good screener, and has the natural advantage of long legs. This allows him to eat up ground in possession via carry, and OOP, and gives him extra advantage in tackles/duels. That’s Bruno’s deep role variant sorted, along with existing issues with Bruno.
As we all know, Bruno usually does the work of two or three players, so Wharton alone won’t be enough. Enter player two: Bryan Mbeumo.
Mbeumo is simply a complete forward: scores, creates, and a hard worker off ball. With 20 goals, he’s the 4th highest scorer in the league. He usually starts in wide areas but is comfortable playing centrally, which gives him flexibility in attack. Most of his key actions come when he cuts inside from wide positions, using his quality ball-striking and weight of pass to deliver key passes or find shooting opportunities. He also creates from set-pieces, adding another dimension to his game.
Like I said before, no one player can fully replace Bruno, but combining Wharton’s reasonable level of control and deep creativity with Mbeumo’s goal threat, creation, and work rate covers a lot of what would be lost.