The Old Trafford Bryan Mbeumo departed before the Africa Cup of Nations, and the one he’s returned to following the tournament, must feel like two very different places.

Mbeumo’s last game before leaving for the AFCON, way back on December 15, was the Red Devils’ 4-4 draw with Bournemouth, a match as chaotic as it was thrilling, as Ruben Amorim – then in the final throes of his time as head coach – uncharacteristically threw caution to the wind.

His team took the lead three times, but were only able to salvage a point from a match in which they were repeatedly and brutally exposed by the rampant Cherries, who became the first side in English top flight history to score three or more goals on consecutive visits to Old Trafford, having won 3-0 in the north-west early in Amorim’s tenure.

Mbeumo played 90 minutes in the eight-goal rollercoaster, but failed to score or assist, and departed for the AFCON having registered a direct goal contribution in his previous five outings for United.

He’d previously scored four in four between the October and November international breaks, but, as with several of his teammates at United, false dawns had given way to a general malaise which ultimately led to Amorim’s exit on January 5.

By this point, Mbeumo was midway through a Nations Cup campaign that, for Cameroon, would ultimately end at the hands of hosts Morocco in the quarterfinals, with the Indomitable Lions defying pre-tournament forecasts to enjoy an admirable run in the competition.

Mbeumo, who was named Man of the Match in the group-stage victory over Gabon, was one of the bright lights for this young and inexperienced Cameroon side at the AFCON, with head coach David Pagou praising the 26-year-old in the aftermath of the defeat by the Atlas Lions.

“This is his first AFCON and he wanted to do good things,” Pagou told ESPN. “[He helped] with the adaptation, finding his new teammates.

“He’s the future of the national side, our technical leader, and he’s become our leader in the dressing room. During this time of adaptation, we must give him credit. He will do very beautiful things in the future.”

The forward had been one rare ray of light during the first half of the season for United, injecting urgency and tenacity into an occasionally staid and uninspiring Red Devils side under Amorim, with his desire to run at defenders, his directness and off the ball movement all giving the side a menace up top that they wouldn’t otherwise have.

He was United’s Player of the Month for August and October, with Rio Ferdinand in particular praising the forward for his immediate impact at Old Trafford.

“Mbeumo has been a joke,” Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel in November. “He’s really stepped in there and become a mainstay.

“He’s someone who can give you two or three seconds on the ball to relieve pressure. He can score important goals and create chances.

“I think by the end of this season, he’ll be one of the most complete wingers in the Premier League because he can do everything,” the ex-United centreback added. “He just needs to consistently do it in a United shirt.”

Who knows whether Amorim’s uncomfortable existence at United would have been extended had it not been for the AFCON, during which he was deprived of Mbeumo, as well as Amad Diallo and Noussair Mazraoui from mid-December, with none of the trio featuring under him again.

They returned to a new Old Trafford, with Michael Carrick now at the helm – at least until the season’s end – after Amorim finally had his long-awaited parting of the ways with the club’s senior management team.

“Training is different, mentality is different,” Mbeumo told Sky Sports, of his first weeks working under Carrick. “The manager is a legend here, so everyone wants to do their best.”

Based on the evidence of Carrick’s first two matches – victories over Manchester City and Arsenal – Mbeumo appears set to step into an even more influential role, and potentially even a transformative one, during the new regime with the fallen giants.

Having opened the scoring in last weekend’s 2-0 victory over City, he then made it two goals in two – the first time since late October that he’s scored in back-to-back fixtures – when he scored the Red Devils’ equaliser, cancelling out Lisandro Martinez’s own goal, during the first half at the Emirates Stadium.

Having troubled William Saliba with his movement and tenacity early on, while also demonstrating some fine interplay with Bruno Fernandes, Mbeumo was quick to react to Martin Zubimendi’s gift, as the midfielder’s scuffed pass – or at least, we think that’s what it was – was picked up by the Cameroon international, who promptly finished with aplomb beyond David Raya.

In netting, Mbeumo becomes the first United player to score against all of City, Arsenal and Liverpool in the same season since Marcus Rashford three campaigns ago, and the first to do so in his debut year since Robin van Persie in 2012-13, cementing his status as a true ‘big game’ player for United.

The goal was also Mbeumo’s 50th in the Premier League; it makes him the first Cameroonian player to hit the half-century, and only the 12th African player to do so.

Mbeumo deserves credit for keeping his cool and finding the net to cap off another fine display, but so too Carrick must be acknowledged for recasting the former Brentford man in a free role that sees him operating more closely with Bruno Fernandes, and with licence to “drift and fill different spaces.”

Genuine transfer success stories have been few and far between for United since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson in 2012, but Mbeumo already falls into the ‘success’ category six months after they parted with £65 million to sign him from the Bees.

His goal against Arsenal was his eighth of the season, but beyond the goals, Mbeumo carries, under Carrick, the spirit and the hunger of a reinvigorated United, as he had threatened to do – albeit alone – under Amorim.

There were suggestions, upon his arrival, that Matheus Cunha, with his swagger and confidence, who could emulate the impact the Eric Cantona – still known as The King around Old Trafford – had when he arrived at United in 1992, during the first season of the Premier League.

Cantona’s aggression, determination, focus on winning, aura and leadership set the tone for United’s early dominance of the PL, with the Frenchman arguably the most influential figure, behind Sir Alex Ferguson, in shaping the modern on-field identity of United.

Of course, Mbeumo will never be another Cantona; he doesn’t have the Frenchman’s charisma, cannot define the club’s identity for an era, and enters into a very different context – the institution, the league, the sport – than Cantona entered into in the early 90s.

However, United are in desperate need – as they were 34 years ago – of a talisman who leads by example, who brings belief (and positive arrogance!), who possesses contagious confidence, whose technical and physical attributes get the best of those around him, and who has the authority to rediscover the club’s identity.

That’s for the future, for now, Mbeumo will look to extend his goalscoring run and extend Carrick’s winning start as caretaker coach against Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur during the first week of February. Amorim sought to exploit Mbeumo’s versatility by employing him in a variety of forward positions, but Carrick knows exactly what he wanted; Mbeumo as his line-leader, with licence to roam, fed by Fernandes, with Amad Diallo and Patrick Dorgu offering pace and direct running either side of the inventive Cameroonian.

Suddenly, it’s an attacking line, an approach, that feels like United, and Mbeumo can be the spearhead of the club’s latest attempted revival under the returning Carrick.