Manchester United Might Need to Let The 20-Year old Go in January

Manchester United was really in the bad position last season after finishing in the 15th position in the Premier League and failed to qualify for European competition this season.

With no European football and the fact that United have been knocked out from the Carabao Cup way too early. The Red Devils only compete in two competitions this season, which are Premier League and FA Cup.

With Manchester United only competing in two competitions and playing mainly just once a week, Amorim will be less likely to do a rotation unless it’s very needed.

With this current condition, Kobbie Mainoo takes the biggest hit in this situation. The lack of game time he has since the end of last season and also for the most part of this season make his development stall.

At the age of 19 when Carlos Baleba had just finished his first season in the Premier League and starting only 15 games, Kobbie Mainoo was playing in the final of a major tournament with England’s National Team. In the same time period, Elliot Anderson had only 10 games for Newcastle and just recently broke into the England’s U-21 squad. 

The only young midfielder that had the same achievement with Mainoo at that time was only Adam Wharton in the 2024 Euro. Even so, Wharton was mainly put on the bench and barely had a chance to get on the pitch, while Mainoo was in the starting line up for every knockout game.

Back to the current moment 18 months after the Euro. Anderson, Elliot and Baleba are all considered top class midfielders and labeled as the £100million players who might be able to be the foundation of Manchester United’s midfield. Having two out of the three names in the Manchester United squad might be the dream move for everyone, but it sounds unrealistic.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to be for Mainoo. His last appearance for The Three Lions was in September 2024. While right now, Anderson and Wharton are playing together for England’s National team in the World Cup Qualifier.

The problem for Mainoo is the gap that keeps increasing, with everyone expecting that the Carrington’s academy player will be the key for United in the near future. But Ruben Amorim doesn’t seem to have the same idea about that. Read more news and information about Manchester United on Price In UK

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This season alone, Mainoo only managed to play for 171 minutes for Manchester United. The gap is so far if we look at the number of game time from the other three. Anderson has played for 1170 minutes, Wharton has 869 minutes in the Premier League, and even Baleba who seems to be struggling this season still has 701 minutes under his belt.

With the difference of game times, the development of Mainoo is also taking a big hit.

Mainoo’s Future at Manchester United

Mainoo’s future at Manchester United has been a hot topic since earlier this season with the 20-year old asking to leave to get more game time for his development. But United blocked all available options, even all the loan offers. Mainoo currently is the only one keeping the 88-year record for United having academy players in every matchday.

This season, Mainoo has yet to start a game in the Premier League. He only started in a game in the Carabao Cup where Man United lost against Grimsby Town earlier this season. His performance on the training ground also doesn’t seem to be impressing Ruben Amorim at this moment.

There are some feelings that Amorim is underusing Mainoo at this moment, and he deserves more game time. Amorim also said that at this point, Mainoo still has more to learn and is still behind Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro on Manchester United’s midfielders order.

Mainoo really need the move away from Man United if he doesn’t get enough game time in order for his development to grow again.