Brian Brobbey Set for United Return After Two Old Trafford Misses
brian brobbey will lead Sunderland's line against Manchester United after the club passed on him twice. The meeting pulls a striker with Premier League goals at Sunderland back in front of the side that wanted him in 2022 and again in 2024.
Brobbey and Old Trafford
Manchester United first chased Brobbey in Erik ten Hag's first summer in charge in 2022, when he had returned to Ajax from RB Leipzig. He was already clear about where he wanted to be then. "Dream club? Manchester United. Erik sent me a message, yes, to congratulate me, and to tell me that he would like to have me at Manchester United. But I'm not finished at Ajax yet, I want to show something here first," he said in September 2022.
He repeated the point in the same month: "I absolutely wanted to go to Ajax. Erik also wanted to work with me, texted once if I was open to it, but I thanked him nicely." That left United waiting while he stayed in Amsterdam and kept scoring for Ajax.
Ajax Form Before Sunderland
Brobbey's numbers at Ajax explain why United kept coming back. He scored 22 goals in 43 games in the 2023/24 season, then followed that with eight goals in 44 games the next campaign. United were interested again in 2024 before moving for Joshua Zirkzee, and Brobbey then left for Sunderland for a fee in the region of £17million.
His Sunderland record has already given the move weight. He scored six goals in 28 Premier League games in his first season and also scored the winner for Sunderland at Newcastle in the derby at St James' Park. That is the form Sunderland are taking into Old Trafford, not an untested arrival but a forward who has already settled into the league.
United's Striker Search
United's route to this match has been expensive. The club spent £72million on Rasmus Hojlund, £36.5million on Zirkzee and then signed Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig for £73million. Sesko scored 11 goals in 30 Premier League games in his first season, which is the benchmark United are now trying to turn into a cleaner answer up front.
Brobbey's return to Old Trafford, though, carries its own edge. He comes back as Sunderland's forward, with the club that twice chose someone else now facing the player it once wanted. That is the frame for the match, and it leaves Sunderland with a striker who has already shown he can punish Premier League defenses.
