Visits to Brentford present significant challenges for Manchester United these days, and Saturday’s lunchtime clash at the Gtech Community Stadium will be heightened with tension due to the underlying animosity.

This encounter marks Bryan Mbeumo’s return to his former club and the first matchup between United and Brentford since their disagreement over his £71 million transfer to Old Trafford this past summer.

United alleged that Brentford unnecessarily prolonged negotiations by inflating their valuation from £70 million to £77 million while pressuring Mbeumo to reduce his personal terms to facilitate the transfer—or potentially consider moves to Tottenham or Newcastle instead.

Two offers were turned down before Mbeumo, who was clear about his intent to join United, completed his move to Old Trafford for a sum of £65 million plus £6 million in add-ons.

Confidential later exclusively disclosed that United had lured Stephen Torpey, Brentford’s academy director, to replace Nick Cox at Carrington, though discussions over this shift were reportedly much more amicable.

Torpey will officially start his new job before Saturday’s game, with Cox leaving after nine years to take over as technical director at Everton.

Since Brentford’s ascent to the Premier League in 2021, the Gtech has not been particularly favorable for United. Even their initial 3-1 victory there under the interim management of Ralf Rangnick was marred by a Cristiano Ronaldo controversy.

Erik ten Hag suffered an infamous 4-0 defeat in west London in his second game as United boss, and summoned the players in the next day for a 13.8km punishment run to make up for the overall distance they had lagged behind their opponents.

The Dutchman thought he had stolen a win on his return 19 months later when Mason Mount put United ahead with his first goal for the club in the 96th minute, only to see Kristoffer Ajer equalise in the 99th.

Ruben Amorim’s first visit to Brentford in May ended in a 4-3 defeat but the result made the game seem closer than it was, with United scoring two late consolation goals through Alejandro Garnacho and Amad Diallo.

He will head back to the Gtech on Saturday desperate to avoid a repeat of that match as United look to build on last weekend’s win over Chelsea.

Hair assault being probed

United are looking into footage that showed one of their fans being attacked by another supporter at the Chelsea match on Saturday, and will impose strong sanctions if the perpetrator is identified.

Frank Ilett, who has dubbed himself ‘the United Strand’, has gone viral for refusing to get a haircut until Amorim’s side win five games in a row – something they last did in February 2024 under Ten Hag.

Ilett began the challenge in October last year and posts daily updates of how his hair is looking on his accounts, which have 380,000 followers on Instagram and 253,000 on TikTok – growing almost as fast as his curly black locks.

One fan seemed to take umbrage with his stunt and was seen grabbing Ilett’s hair and attempting to push him to the ground on the Old Trafford concourse. Other supporters intervened but the furious man continued to verbally abuse Ilett and accused him of not being a real fan.

Confidential understands the club is aware of the video, which has been widely circulated.

Malacia’s raring to go

There were some raised eyebrows last Friday when Amorim casually mentioned that Tyrell Malacia would be training with the Under 21s. In fact, Confidential understands the Dutchman has been with the youngsters for the past two weeks.

According to those around the group, his intensity is said to be ‘off the charts’ with his attitude ‘an example for everybody else’.

Interestingly, Malacia is also said to have requested to be allowed to play for the Under 21s, but is yet to receive the green light.

The 26-year-old, who was Ten Hag’s first signing when he joined United for £13m in 2022, is the last remaining member of Amorim’s ‘bomb squad’, having been left behind by Jadon Sancho (on loan at Aston Villa), Marcus Rashford (on loan at Barcelona), Antony (sold to Real Betis), and Alejandro Garnacho (sold to Chelsea).

A late loan deal for Malacia to join La Liga side Elche collapsed and no suitable offers arrived from Turkey or Saudi Arabia. He spent the second half of last season back in the Netherlands with PSV Eindhoven, and last turned out for United away at FCSB in the Europa League on January 30.

Considering how Malacia has handled himself in training, players in the Under 21s group have been left surprised that he was even lumped in with the other players in the ‘bomb squad’, given he was always likely to provide the least amount of disruption or distraction.

Malacia turned out once for the Under 21s last season on his return from injury, playing 45 minutes away to Huddersfield Town in the EFL Trophy.

Now, with little prospect of being reintegrated into Amorim’s first-team group, Malacia has been pushing bosses to let him play in the academy side to build himself back up.

Diego has work to do

While Malacia has been frozen out under Amorim, new left back Diego Leon has been training with the first-team group and played his first game for United’s Under 21s in a 2-1 win at Liverpool on Sunday.

Ahead of the Paraguayan arriving from Cerro Porteno this summer, Leon was ambitious in his targets. ‘Everyone thinks I’ll go out on loan, but I don’t have that mindset,’ he said. ‘I’m going to kill it in pre-season and within one or two games, I’ll already be playing with them.’

Confidential was in attendance for Leon’s first outing on Merseyside and, based on his 45-minute appearance, Leon still has a long way to go before getting any action for the first team.

At Liverpool he found it difficult to establish any rhythm with Bendito Mantato, who was playing in front of him, while Leon was booked for a cynical challenge after losing out in a duel in a dangerous area.

Liverpool targeted his side of the pitch and United fell behind before his day was cut short at half-time, with Mantato moving to left back and James Scanlon coming on at left wing.

There is certainly sympathy for the 18-year-old, not least because he should have been playing academy matches from the very start of the season rather than being kept out of games so he could train with the senior squad. He does not currently speak or understand English, which makes such a big move even harder.

Team-mate Victor Musa, 19, is believed to have taken on greater importance in the group in recent weeks, acting as translator for Leon – although Musa’s Basque version of Spanish and Leon’s Paraguayan dialect means even that is not smooth all of the time.

Leon will be with the Under 21s for the foreseeable future and should improve, but plenty of scouts at the Liverpool match expressed their confusion at the decision to prioritise Leon over Harry Amass, who was shipped out on loan to Sheffield Wednesday, where he is excelling.

Tyler’s waiting game

The debate around Leon also raises an interesting question over United’s handling of 20-year-old centre back Tyler Fredricson.

The youngster, who broke into the first team at the back end of last season, has had just 45 minutes of football so far this season. He was taken off at half-time in the disastrous Carabao Cup exit away to Grimsby Town and not featured since.

Fredricson is arguably the eighth-choice centre back available to Amorim behind Matthijs de Ligt, Leny Yoro, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, Lisandro Martinez, Ayden Heaven and Noussair Mazraoui. Having had a recent chunk of his academy journey at United disrupted by injury, keeping Fredricson on the sidelines feels counter-productive to his development. 

Involvement in first-team sessions is a positive for any and all young players that get the call, and Confidential has been told Jack Fletcher and Shea Lacey both left a lasting impression on Amorim and his staff in the past week.

But with no Carabao Cup matches, no games in Europe to allow rotation, and no FA Cup third round until January, there is an argument that keeping Fredricson on the first-team bench isn’t helping him, and he should play for the Under 21s instead.

Chelsea chant silenced

A campaign to stamp out the homophobic ‘rent boy’ chant towards Chelsea fans seems to be working, with no significant incidents reported at Saturday’s 2-1 win over the Blues.

United issued a statement before the game telling fans that there is no place at Old Trafford for the ‘offensive and inappropriate’ chant, and warning it is a hate crime punishable by ejection from the stadium, a banning order and potential criminal charges.

United’s deterrent programme, which includes an education video from anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out, appears to have been a success with club officials telling Confidential that United fans deserve credit for their response.

Rail seats installed

Work has begun to install 6,000 safe-standing seats in the second tier of the Stretford End, doubling the number in use at Old Trafford.

Work on the new rail seating is expected to be completed next month, and although some of it will be in place for the next home game against Sunderland a week on Saturday, the area will still be licensed as a seated section until it receives approval from the Sports Grounds Safety Authority.

The move will mean Old Trafford has one of the largest provisions of rail seating in the Premier League, and reflects continued investment in the matchday experience for fans.

Ince back for ex-players

One of the highlights of last week’s Grand Charity Sportsman’s Dinner was Paul Ince’s return to Old Trafford.

The 57-year-old, a key figure in Sir Alex Ferguson’s first title-winning team in 1993 and a Double winner in 1994, was a special guest at Thursday’s event, where he reminisced about the good times with former United chairman Martin Edwards.

Ince was one of a number of stars who turned out to help raise funds for the Association of Former Manchester United Players, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year.

United’s director of football Jason Wilcox made a guest appearance and spoke candidly on stage with Alan Keegan – United’s official stadium announcer, known as the Voice of Old Trafford – about the challenge of reviving the club’s fortunes.

The items auctioned off included a copy of History of United, a new book with artwork by Paul Trevillion and a foreword by Bryan Robson, with all funds raised going to the United ex-players’ association.

Euro football returns to Old Trafford 

United are still getting used to the unfamiliar feeling of going a week between matches after missing out on Europe for the second time in 35 years and exiting the Carabao Cup at the first hurdle.

But for those craving a football fix, look no further than the Premier League International Cup, an Under 21s tournament which begins on Wednesday with the visit of Athletic Bilbao. Borussia Dortmund, Anderlecht and Sporting Lisbon’s youth sides will also visit this season. 

It is an invaluable opportunity for players, such as highly-rated striker Chido Obi and the aforementioned Lacey, to play in front of a crowd at Old Trafford, and also a chance for fans to see the club’s rising stars in action. Tickets are £10 for adults and £5 for kids.

Retro is the way to go 

United top the Premier League table of retro shirt sales, according to the latest study, with their kit from the 1992-93 title-winning season the most popular.

The Reds can boast 95 out of the 1,000 most expensive top-flight shirts analysed by SeatPick, making up almost a tenth of the overall total.

Explaining why United’s 1992-93 jersey accounts for 23 per cent of all the club’s vintage shirt sales, a spokesperson for the ticket comparison website said: ‘This was United’s first Premier League title after 26 years of hurt.

‘The iconic Sharp-sponsored shirts worn by Cantona, Hughes, and Giggs as they finally broke Liverpool’s dominance – pure liquid gold for collectors.

‘This era represents the exact moment English football went global, making it historically significant beyond just sporting success.’

The mid-90s dominates the list, with demand for retro shirts peaking for eight of the top 10 clubs between 1992 and 1997.

Although United are No 1 for volume of shirts sold, their average price of £153 ranks only sixth – behind the likes of Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Newcastle and Chelsea.