Kobbie Mainoo made his first Premier League start of the season on Saturday and his performance was a reminder of what he can offer at Man Utd.
Kobbie Mainoo
Kobbie Mainoo has the chance of a fresh start at Manchester United and he looks ready to take it(Image: )
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The sight of Kobbie Mainoo shimmying away from Antoine Semenyo near the halfway line at Old Trafford on Saturday was a valuable reminder of the technical quality possessed by the Manchester United midfielder. It was also a jolting reminder that, somehow, Mainoo was making his first Premier League start of the season on January 17.
There is little desire to go back over the wreckage of the Ruben Amorim era now but had the Portuguese head coach not taken a wrecking ball to his position at the turn of the year, perhaps he would have limped on further into this season. Had that happened, then who knows where Mainoo would be now.
Amorim always insisted that Mainoo was competing with Bruno Fernandes for a place in his team. Against Manchester City, the 20-year-old academy graduate and the 31-year-old captain co-existed perfectly in a finely balanced midfield.
That didn't seem likely a month ago. Had Amorim survived this month, then it is possible, maybe even probable, that Mainoo would have been forced to look elsewhere. A permanent exit was never on the cards, but he wanted to move to Napoli on the final day of the summer transfer window and the Italian champions remained keen.
Any chance of a mid-season exit is now off the table. The embrace between Mainoo and Michael Carrick at full-time on Saturday was a visual sign of the faith the new head coach has shown in a young player whose confidence has taken a battering and development has stalled.
Carrick said Mainoo was "great" in the 2-0 win and praised him for laying a platform alongside Casemiro. It's easy to remember how the pair of them often struggled together under Erik ten Hag, but this was evidence that if the structure is right, they can play together.
There is competition still in that midfield. Manuel Ugarte has interest from abroad but will stay put for the rest of the season and Mason Mount will want to force his way back in, but it would be a surprise if Mainoo isn't starting between Casemiro and Fernandes for the next couple of weeks, at least.
As promising a trio as that is, it's also one with uncertainty. Casemiro is out of contract this summer and although the one-year option in his contract will be triggered if he starts all 16 remaining Premier League games, that is very unlikely to happen. Fernandes has again put the focus on his own future recently, and he might have a decision to make in the summer.
Mainoo looks the safest bet for the long-term, and the Stockport-born midfielder should be a United player for years to come. But while the departure of Amorim is one obstacle out of the way, contract talks between his camp and the club haven't gone smoothly.
Although some performance bonuses have been triggered, Mainoo remains on the deal he signed in February 2023, when he was 17. It doesn't reflect the status he believes he now holds and if he does emerge from the second half of the season as a first-choice midfielder, that will again need revisiting.
That deal expires at the end of next season and although United have the option to extend it by 12 months, it will go down as a failure if that is required. New and improved terms should be sorted by this summer.
The onus is partly on Mainoo to show he is deserving of the pay rise he believes he warrants. He certainly looked it on Saturday. If that level is maintained, then director of football Jason Wilcox will have to act. He is the key figure in contract decisions now and it would now be a good look for an academy graduate at Mainoo's level to enter the final 12 months.
There has been plenty of uncertainty around Mainoo over the last 12 months, but Saturday felt like a fresh start. That should give everyone involved the impetus to sort out his long-term future before the summer transfer window kicks into gear.
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