How Rafael Leao could unlock Amad and Bryan Mbeumo under Carrick

Rafael Leao wants to leave AC Milan, and he has admitted as much himself.

The Portuguese winger is keen on a fresh start elsewhere, and his admission comes at a particularly interesting time. He has been heavily linked with a £43 million move away from the San Siro, with AC Milan equally keen to move him on.

Manchester United have, of course, been presented as the winger’s most likely destination, a notion further fuelled this week when Leao confessed his love for United and revealed how closely he follows them.

Rafael Leao transfer opportunity too good to ignore

INEOS ought to act on the Leao opportunity, and in doing so, they could achieve something they have so far failed to do lately: getting the best out of Bryan Mbeumo and Amad.

While most Manchester United players have dazzled under Michael Carrick, Amad and Mbeumo have not looked as threatening as they did under Ruben Amorim. Their spark, so vivid in the first half of the season, has gradually faded.

With Leao on the left, however, the right wing could well rediscover its edge, and here is how:

Mbeumo and Amad are wingers who thrive on taking defenders on and creating goalscoring chances for themselves and their teammates alike. That is precisely what they did so well under Amorim.

The hope at the time was for the left wing to match their influence, but, disappointingly, it never quite did.

Unfortunately, teams quickly identified United’s weakness. Nullify Mbeumo and Amad, and you had a genuine chance against the Red Devils. Rivals made it their mission to do exactly that, and in the second half of the season, the duo visibly lost their edge.

Leao will make Amad and Mbeumo tick

Next season, United must find a way to help Mbeumo and Amad rediscover their threat, and signing a true one-v-one, gravitational winger on the left is how they do it.

For much of the second half of this season, United were too easy to defend against. Those featuring on the left wing tended to float, roam, and drift rather than hold their width and attack their man directly.

That predictability allowed opposition sides to organise comfortably and shut down United’s right-sided threat with minimal effort by overloading it.

A dangerous, dribbling left winger who holds his width changes everything.

Rather than finding themselves in standstill face-ups, the pace of both Mbeumo and Amad becomes a genuine weapon, either as channel runners slipping in behind for back-post finishes, or combining quickly with teammates in the final third.

A true one-v-one threat on the left will stretch defences, break lines, and open up far cleaner conditions for Mbeumo or Amad to exploit from the right wing.

While the midfield remains the transfer priority, the opportunity to sign Leao, a 99th-percentile ball-carrier with the physical presence to shrug off any defender, could prove to be United’s summer 2026 masterstroke. It would unlock United’s attack in ways few saw coming.

Featured images Marco Luzzani via Getty Images

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