Leeds manager Daniel Farke, Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim in a circular insert.
Leeds could be set to take advantage of a chaotic situation at Manchester United by signing one of their players.
With the battle at the bottom of the Premier League set to be a fiercely contested one this season, ensuring Leeds have a successful January transfer window could prove to be the difference if they want to avoid relegation this season.
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With Daniel Farke looking as though he will be regularly deploying the 5-3-2 formation going forward, naturally, this should influence United’s transfer policy in terms of what players they look to recruit.
One Manchester United midfielder in particular, who is out of favour, would seemingly fit into this new shape well, and after the events that occurred at Old Trafford on Monday night, a potential transfer seems more likely than ever.
Leeds should bring out of favour Kobbie Mainoo to Elland Road
Leeds have not been shy when it comes to recruiting players from their arch rivals over the years, with Dan James being the latest to swap Old Trafford for Elland Road.
Joshua Zirkzee is the latest Manchester United player to be linked with a move to Leeds; however, Zirkzee is not the player the 49ers should be targeting in the January transfer window.
Instead, all attention should be on securing the signature of Mainoo.
Mainoo, 20, is currently out of favour under Ruben Amorim, with the youngster not starting a single Premier League match so far this season.
During the game between Manchester United and Bournemouth on Monday night, the midfielder’s brother was spotted in the crowd with a t-shirt that said ‘free Kobbie Mainoo’ on it in a move that will surely only make Amorim even less likely to give Mainoo gametime.
Leeds have previously been linked with Mainoo over the summer, but the Whites should now certainly look to capitalise on the shocking events at Old Trafford on Monday night by bringing the midfielder to West Yorkshire in January.
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Kobbie Mainoo would be a drastic upgrade on Ilia Gruev
If Mainoo were to arrive at Elland Road in January, it would make sense for the 49ers to facilitate a sale of Gruev to free up some funds.
Evidently, Farke does not feel that the Bulgarian can cope with the demands of the Premier League, with the 25-year-old playing a total of just 389 minutes in the league this season.
In Mainoo, Leeds would have secured a far superior player to Gruev, who has the potential to start week in, week out and provide some real competition to the likes of Anton Stach and Ao Tanaka.
Stat (per game) Kobbie Mainoo (2024/25) Ilia Gruev (2025/26)
Tackles 1.8 1.4
Interceptions 0.8 0.5
Key Passes 0.6 0.2
Total Duels Won 4.4 2.0
(Credit: Sofascore)
As well as being better than Gruev at winning the ball back, Mainoo provides more of an attacking spark in the centre of the pitch, which is something Farke’s side evidently needs.
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