Kobbie Mainoo has still not started a Premier League match this seasonplaceholder image
Kobbie Mainoo has still not started a Premier League match this season | Getty Images
Man Utd could lose an academy star but there is an obvious example for him to follow.
If there was ever an example of how quickly things can change in football, it was Manchester United’s comeback victory over Crystal Palace at the weekend.
Ruben Amorim’s side were terrible in the first half at Selhurst Park, but came out of the blocks fighting after the restart. Not only that, but Joshua Zirkzee salvaged an anonymous showing when he rifled in an equaliser that lifted the entire team, while Diogo Dalot produced his best performance of the season after he had been criticised by the head coach just before the match.
Dalot and Zirkzee should both keep their starting roles when United host West Ham in the Premier League on Thursday night, a testament to their very recent transformation. It might not seem like it now, but the same could be said about Kobbie Mainoo if he takes the next chance he is given in a United shirt.
Read More
Mainoo won’t be allowed to leave in January
Kobbie Mainoo asked to leave the club on loan in the final days of the summer transfer window and is expected to make the same request when the market reopens next month. He still hasn’t started a Premier League match this season, but that doesn’t mean his wish will be granted by Ruben Amorim.
The 20-year-old is down the pecking order at United and has suffered more than most from the lack of playing time this campaign. Due to their early exit from the Carabao Cup and lack of European football, United could play as few as 40 matches this season: they played 60 last season. Few have endured those agonising waits between matches quite like Mainoo.
Despite his enormous talent, Mainoo has not done enough when he has been given a chance this season, and those chances have been limited because he is in direct competition with Bruno Fernandes for the same starting role. It is only when the club captain is required further up the pitch that Mainoo has been granted an opportunity, with Amorim still unconvinced by the youngster’s defensive discipline to start matches in such a crucial position.
It is for those reasons, there is huge uncertainty over his long-term future at the club, though it still seems unlikely he will be allowed to leave in the short-term either. United only have four senior central midfielders at their disposal, and even if Amorim has doubts over Mainoo, it would only take an injury or suspension for him to be thrown into the spotlight.
Just look at Joshua Zirkzee as the perfect example. He has also been frustrated by a lack of playing time and was expected to request a January loan exit, but has now started consecutive matches after injury to Benjamin Sesko and Matheus Cunha. He scored a crucial goal against Palace at the weekend and could be rewarded with another start against West Ham later this week.
Zirkzee’s rejuvenated role will likely be the blueprint for Mainoo to follow. Even though he might not appear to have many opportunities now, Amorim can’t afford to risk letting one of his few senior midfield options depart the club next month, when United are only expected to add to their squad in the summer.
Amorim would like to sign two midfielders and holds a preference for those with Premier League experience. Adam Wharton, Elliot Anderson and Carlos Baleba are all of interest, though they would all likely command a club-record fee in excess of the £89 million spent on Paul Pogba almost a decade ago. To make that happen, they might have to sell the academy star.
United have made no progress on a new contract for Mainoo, and it is hard to see a compromise when he has such a reduced role in the first-team squad. The youngster is contracted until 2027, with the option of another year at the discretion of the club. It means they are still in control of his immediate future, but would have to seriously consider any offers for a fringe player whose sale would be classified as pure profit from a financial perspective under current rules.
With plans to refresh the midfield department next summer, time could be running out for Mainoo at his boyhood club. Until then, there is little sense in letting him go. It might only take one injury before he is crucial once again.
Continue Reading