Mbeumo and Wissa: Why our friendship is so special | OneFootball

After both scoring in Brentford's 2-1 win over Crystal Palace on Sunday, Bees forwards Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa reminisce, reflect and discuss what makes their partnership, which is now unequivocally an unbelievably strong friendship, so special.

The pair, who have now combined for nine Premier League goals since their first game together back in 2021, have a bond which transcends what they do on the pitch and has undoubtedly helped their goalscoring exploits in recent seasons.

Mbeumo and Wissa were involved in 30 league goals between them last term - and they already have one each this term, after both netting the west Londoners' victory on Sunday. The latter also assisted the former for the hosts' opener.

And the team-mates, who, it’s safe to say, can now just be described as mates, explain why they are so close on and off the pitch.

“We just want to have a good journey together,” Wissa explains. “We have a similar mindset: a football career is short and we just want to enjoy every minute.

“Even when it’s tough sometimes, we will always encourage each other to keep going and to be happy every day.

“But he is jealous of me sometimes… about everything! This morning, he came to me and said, ‘Oh your sliders are nice, I want the same!’. But, honestly, we are both easy, that makes a difference.

“As well as that, we come from pretty much the same background and now we are both playing in Africa for DR Congo and Cameroon. I feel like that makes us enjoy this journey even more.

“Bryan is more than my team-mate, he’s my friend now. That’s the thing.”

Mbeumo - or 'Uncle Bryan', as Wissa's children call him - added: “We are both happy all the time - or at least most of the time! We always want to make jokes and do silly things together. That is a big part of our relationship.

“We have a really good relationship off the pitch, he’s now living one house down from me - he just wants to be next to me all the time!

“We are good friends and this helps us a lot on the pitch, it’s easy with him to talk about everything.

"We discuss what could have been better, how we can progress, and how to avoid any mistakes.”