The left-footed attacker Arsenal and Liverpool might bid for in January

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OK, time to talk about one of my favorite players to watch. —KM

Transfer rumours don’t usually get a ton of play in October, but there’s tons of smoke around a potential move for Brentford attacker Bryan Mbeumo. And one of the people pointing it out is… his own manager? When asked about the potential of losing him at a press conference, Thomas Frank admitted it’s inevitable.

All of Liverpool, Arsenal and Newcastle have registered their interest in Mbeumo, according to your favorite clickbait outlets. He’s probably been on the radar of those clubs for quite some time, but the combination of his 8 league goals — second only to Erling Haaland — and the 18 months remaining on his contract weakening Brentford’s negotiating position have likely made him even more attractive.

Mbeumo is a versatile and well-rounded attacker who does a lot of things well for the Bees. They have used both 4-3-3 and 3-5-2 formations for long stretches of this season, and he’s proven equally adept at playing on the right wing and as part of a striker partnership, logging almost equal minutes in those two roles.

His radar doesn’t pop off the screen, but Mbeumo is giving Brentford solid shooting, passing, dribbling, ball progression and pressing output. He’s a bit difficult to categorize because he’s split his time evenly between two positions, but a big part of his value is that he gives Brentford a little bit of everything.

While Mbeumo’s shot selection and finishing quality have been excellent this season, he’s also admittedly on an extremely hot run that he’s unlikely to sustain without getting a higher volume of shots. He’s done a great job to capitalize on Brentford’s trademark kickoff plays, but a club like Liverpool or Arsenal would like to see a lot more open play shots before committing a big sum of money.

Mbeumo also has some value as a set piece taker, though the Bees haven’t capitalized on his left-footed in-swingers yet. 6 decent shots produced around the top of the 6-yard box isn’t bad, though.

If you are looking at all of this and coming away unconvinced that Mbeumo would make a good buy for a top club, you’re probably considering a lot of right-footed players as alternatives. There are 92 Premier League players who have played at least 300 minutes this season as a winger, striker, or attacking midfielder, and only 25 of them are left-footed.

Most of those players are already at the richest clubs. Some have been given massive price tags to scare off the rich clubs (Jarrod Bowen). Quite a few are not very productive at all yet, even if they’re promising (Tyler Dibling). The others in Mbeumo’s category are all owned by Brighton, who clearly don’t need the money and have been successful at wringing £100m+ fees out of clubs. (I know I’m beating a dead horse, but Newcastle really screwed up with Yankuba Minteh).

Mbeumo is a unicorn: A prime age, consistently productive, versatile, left-footed attacker who can probably be signed for under £50m. He’d be a great fit at Liverpool as a direct Mohamed Salah replacement, at least while they search for the youngster who has the ability to develop into a Salah-level player. He’d also fit in well at Arsenal as a player who can start alongside Bukayo Saka as a striker or rotate with him on the right wing.

All of the reporting says Brentford won’t sell in January, but I have to ask, why not? They’re well clear of a relegation battle, and well behind a European one. If the price is going to be higher now than in the summer, they might as well cash in. And for either Liverpool or Arsenal, Mbeumo could be the missing piece that wins them the title.

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