Kobbie Mainoo has slipped down the pecking order at Manchester United and is yet to start a Premier League game with a former player having sympathy with his situation
Kobbie Mainoo's stature in Manchester seems to have fallen
Kobbie Mainoo's stature in Manchester seems to have fallen(Image: NurPhoto, NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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Dimitar Berbatov has leapt to the defence of Kobbie Mainoo, who is going through a "really cruel" period at Manchester United with Ruben Amorim opting against playing the young midfielder, who was also denied a move away.
Mainoo was once seen as an untouchable at Old Trafford and looked destined to dictate play in the midfield for the next decade and beyond. Under Amorim though he's been very much a squad player and is yet to start in the Premier League this term.
The United boss has preferred a midfield duo of Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes, leaving Mainoo to watch on from the bench. The 20-year-old is now out of the England fold having had limited chances to impress this season.
There was talk of a loan move to Napoli in the summer, but that was blocked, yet Amorim has made minimal use of Mainoo. Berbatov feels sympathy for the young player but admitted Amorim "doesn't see something he can use" from the start.
He told the Daily Mail: "It's a very tough situation, especially for a young player. And it shows you how football can be a really cruel game at times because Kobbie Mainoo was playing, he reached the England national team, he was going up, up, and up. All of a sudden he is not being picked.
"Now the question is, does he stay positive, patient, and wait for his moment again? Or he needs to move to a different place to play regularly to get his confidence back and come back to United and start playing more regularly?
"I'd like to see him play because the talent is there to see, that decision-making, that calmness and arrogance which you need with the ball at your feet is there, even at his age. I like that. But at the moment, the manager doesn't see something he can use from the first minute of the game."
Most of Kobbie Mainoo's minutes this season have come from the bench
Most of Kobbie Mainoo's minutes this season have come from the bench
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The hype and interest around Mainoo, who had been regarded as the best academy product to come into the first-team for years, has seen Amorim regularly questioned on why his minutes are so limited. The United boss has been keen to point out how much improvement he still wants to see from the youngster.
Mainoo's CV already boasts a goal in an FA Cup final win and a start in the final of the last Euros, but since Erik ten Hag's exit from Manchester his fortunes have dwindled and talk of a sale has ramped up, particularly because of the profit he would recoup when it came to PSR.
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