During the latter stages of the summer transfer window, Manchester United denied a loan approach for two of their stars, despite UEFA lifting their ban.
Manchester United suffered their third defeat of the new season on Sunday, as well as their second in the Premier League, as they currently sit in 14th.
Ruben Amorim’s side made the short journey to the Etihad, where they were dispatched 3-0 by Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City team, thanks to goals from Phil Foden and Erling Haaland.
Despite new signing Matheus Cunha being out of the fixture, as well as Mason Mount, there was still no space in the starting XI for United’s academy product Kobbie Mainoo.
Mainoo has yet to start a league game this season, much to the dismay of United fans, despite requesting a loan move in the summer transfer window.
Loan denied for Højlund and Mainoo
The talented Englishman was told to stay put by the Red Devils, despite his request, and he was told that his time in the starting lineup would come sooner or later.
In the last 12 months, UEFA initially banned United and Ligue 1 side OGC Nice from doing business with each other as both clubs are owned by INEOS, which many felt was a bizarre move, considering how often other clubs owned by the same companies, namely Chelsea and Strasbourg, sell and buy from each other.
After UEFA lifted the ban, Ici Azur, via Get French Football News, has revealed that the French side requested a loan deal for both Mainoo and Rasmus Højlund, which was ultimately denied.
The Danish forward joined Italian giants Napoli in the final stages of the transfer window on loan with a conditional obligation to buy for £38 million, whilst Mainoo stayed put, where he will now have to fight to earn more minutes.
Earlier in the year, it was said that United would demand around £70 million for the midfielder, but the club eventually decided that the player would not depart unless an extraordinary offer came through.
United offered the French side, who are part of the same multi-club model, a different unnamed youth player, although Nice decided against signing this youngster.
United not utilising UEFA ban lift
Despite the links between the two sides, there were no transactions between the clubs this summer, even though UEFA decided to lift their ban on the two teams collaborating.
Nice’s sporting director stated, “I spoke with Manchester United during the transfer window in order to try and find solutions. We envisaged things, like asking them to sign a player and then loaning us back, but their priority was to sell.”
READ MORE: Paul Scholes tells Manchester United star to ‘knock on Rúben Amorim’s door’ and demand to start vs Chelsea
Mainoo must be wondering what he has to do in order to just simply get on the pitch, whether this be at United or elsewhere, given his lack of minutes so far in this campaign.
The talented 20-year-old has only started the Carabao Cup loss to Grimsby so far this season, and wasn’t allowed the loan move that he was asking for, leaving him to spend most of his time on the United bench.
Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is streamed live every Thursday at 12:30 pm (BST) on the United View YouTube channel.