Manchester United star Bryan Mbeumo has opened up on his pre-match ritual, which may explain his impressive start to life at Old Trafford

Bryan Mbeumo has revealed he plays chess in the Manchester United dressing room before games. The summer signing has become a key player at Old Trafford with 10 goals and three assists to his name this season, and it certainly seems as though his mind being focused helps significantly.

The latest of those direct contributions came during Monday’s 1-0 win over Everton, with Benjamin Sesko calmly finishing his pass across the box. And now United supporters have got an insight into what he did before that clash and likely does on most matchdays.

Joined by Joshua Zirkzee on United’s self-produced podcast ‘Inside Carrington‘, Mbeumo was asked about his pre-match ritual. He said: “Listening to music and I also play chess sometimes [in the dressing room]. Mbeumo revealed that he mostly plays online and has an impressive rank of 850.

Zirkzee then chipped in: “He’s scared to play against me, though. You lost against Matheus [Cunha] the other day.” The Cameroon international heavily refuted Zirkzee’s claim before the latter revealed what he does ahead of matches.

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He said: “We’ve got a lot of guys that play chess, I play Candy Crush. We used to play [Clash of Clans] together.” Judging by their playful exchange, it is clear Mbeumo and Zirkzee are close, with the former going on to reveal how highly he rates the Dutchman.

“This guy on my left [surprised me], to be honest. I’m not watching football a lot, so obviously, when I joined, I knew the players, but I didn’t know really how they were playing.

“I was really impressed with Josh because he’s a lot more skilful than I would have thought with the ball and he can just hold the ball very easy with his body and a good strike.”

Zirkzee has scarcely featured under Michael Carrick, with no cup or European football not helping his chances of game time. Even summer signing Sesko has needed to be patient, and though he has not yet started under the interim head coach, he has been impressing in cameos.

Speaking on his role in the squad after netting another goal, he said: “We are talking, of course, but he [Carrick] believes in me, everyone believes in me. They are getting me ready to start as soon as possible.

“It’s more about me showing up when it’s important; no matter how many minutes I’m getting, I’m focusing on delivering and trying to help the team secure the wins.”

“Of course. I’m getting settled in the league from game to game. Again, I’m not even thinking about ‘I have to start, I have to start’.

“For me, it’s just whenever the coach decides to put them there or not, I’m just going to be there. If I get the next minutes, five minutes, I’m going to use them and for me it’s just about trying to enjoy and delivering for the team.”

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