Manchester United’s most embarrassing mistake of the past decade was the Paul Pogba debacle.
Paul Pogba has had an incredibly storied career both at and away from Manchester United.
Having broken through the academy under Sir Alex Ferguson, Pogba soon grew frustrated with a lack of first-team opportunities and left for free.
He then joined Juventus, where he grew into the player many knew he would, and United re-signed Pogba for £89m just five years after letting him depart for nothing.
After a hot and cold second spell at Old Trafford, Pogba officially left United again in 2022 when his contract expired before he repeated history by joining Juventus for free, for the second time.
Pogba’s career has since been difficult having not played due to doping allegations, however, this is now behind him. Pogba joined Monaco this summer as he looks to reignite his career.
Kobbie Mainoo of Manchester United runs with the ball against West Ham.
Photo by Emilee Chinn – Premier League/Getty Images
Demetri Mitchell warns Manchester United not to lose Kobbie Mainoo
From United’s point of view, losing a youth player for free and breaking the world record a few years later is an embarrassing admission that a mistake was made.
Well now, Demetri Mitchell, former United academy graduate, has issued a warning that Ineos are risking repeating this mistake with Kobbie Mainoo.
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This comes as Mainoo is subject of interest from Premier League rivals, and Mitchell has had his say on whether offers should be entertained.
“Selling Kobbie would be like when United let Pogba go Juve. Surely can’t make the same mistake twice”, Mitchell explained.
“No chance,” Mitchell continued. “Kobbie’s defo that guy where whoever buys him he does a madness. Big mistake letting Pogba go Juve the first time, let’s not do that again.”
The prospect of losing Mainoo should frighten Ineos, as it would be a decision that would not go down well within the fanbase.
Ruben Amorim must figure out Kobbie Mainoo this season
This summer has seen Mainoo improve for United, demonstrating better passing from deep and also his movement and agility have all gotten better.
However, this has not silenced talk around Mainoo’s future, with Tottenham and Chelsea among the clubs interested with £60m the fee often mentioned. Selling Mainoo to either would be devastating for the club and might cause big problems for Ineos.
So over the coming months, Amorim needs to figure out a way to fit Mainoo into his team, in order for the club to then agree for the 20-year-old to get a new contract.
Mainoo’s growing weary of United’s contract talks, with no movement over the past 12 months or longer, which is part due to the demands not fitting the role he has within the squad right now.
Amorim needs to help mould Mainoo into a more polished midfielder so that he can become a starter during this season in order to rid rumours of the graduate leaving the club.