Manchester United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo has the backing of Rio Ferdinand after recent performances have revived his Old Trafford career
Kobbie Mainoo of Manchester United
Kobbie Mainoo has seen a resurgence under Michael Carrick at Manchester United(Image: James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images)
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Rio Ferdinand has highlighted how Kobbie Mainoo's performances since getting back into the Manchester United line-up under Michael Carrick disproves a theory Roy Keane aired about the midfielder earlier in the campaign.
Before Carrick had been appointed as United's interim head coach until the end of the season, Mainoo had not started in the Premier League at all in 2025/26. This has now changed with starts in all four victories since the 44-year-old took the Old Trafford hot seat, and a new contract is on the cards.
Underlining the 20-year-old's resurgence, he completed 33 of 35 attempted final-third passes during Saturday's 2-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur, leading the Premier League in this statistic for the weekend.
This particularly area of Mainoo's abilities that had once been questioned by previous United manager Ruben Amorim, as had the England international's work ethic by United legend Keane.
Last October as Mainoo was named on the bench for United's win over Liverpool at Anfield, Keane told Sky Sports: "It obviously seems to be a problem for Mainoo getting into this team.
"The word coming out is they don't think he can cover the ground that quickly, but if you look at Man Utd's other midfielders they've got, they're not great at that either.
"As a young player, he has to suck that up and work hard, and when he gets a chance, he has to take it.
"A young player with good potential cannot be guaranteed a place in United's team. But it will come down to the player himself. Your job every day, every week, is to make sure the manager puts you in the team.
"If the manager deep down doesn't fancy him? I don't know. We will find that out in the next few weeks. Because if he doesn't fancy him, he might have to move him on."
Fast-forward to the present day, and fellow United legend Ferdinand believes the young midfielder's effort in training should never have been a source of debate.
"We asked the question. 'Is he working? Is he doing what the manager is asking him? Is he putting physical mileage on the training ground?' There’s no doubt in my mind that you run the amount that he has; it’s concrete that he was working when he wasn’t in the team," the former defender said, speaking on his Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast.
"The tank is empty at 60 minutes, you are on the floor when you haven’t been playing for a while, and then you start. He must be doing some real work. I tip my hat to Kobbie Mainoo."
Also wading in on the subject after United's fourth consecutive Premier League victory was Gary Lineker, who went as far to jest Mainoo should consider taking legal action again his former boss Amorim.
"He's taken a year out of that kid's career. This kid is a wonderful footballer," Lineker told The Rest is Football podcast.
"God, he makes it look so easy. He wants the ball, he receives it with anyone around him and he turns, always makes the right decisions, he's graceful.
"I mean, come on! He's been absolutely detrimental to his career."