3
Former Manchester United midfielder Nicky Butt is ‘concerned’ about Kobbie Mainoo’s future at Old Trafford and suggests the club is wasting the youngster’s talent.
Stuck on the couch
Mainoo is yet to start a Premier League match this season, with Ruben Amorim favoring the experienced combination of Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes in his midfield.
And it is the latter, as the Portuguese coach said. Mainoo is competing for a starting spot – a battle with only one winner, given Fernandes’ status as club captain and the team’s most influential player.
It marks a dramatic decline in the importance of the twenty-year-old midfielder for the Red Devils, after he burst onto the scene under Erik ten Hag in the 2023/2024 season.
He would help his youth side win the FA Cup that year, scoring in the final 2-1 win over Manchester City before being crowned player of the tournament. This was then followed by inclusion in the England squad for EURO 2024, where he started in the final against Spain.
But 18 months on from these dizzying heights, Mainoo is experiencing the first low point of his burgeoning career, with just 260 minutes of action in United’s 13 games this season – and little prospect of more.
Kobbie Mainoo statistics
| Name | Performances | Goals | Assists | Active for years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kobbie Mainoo | 81 | 7 | 3 | 2023-present |
Amorim has consistently stated during press conferences how much he appreciates Mainoo as a footballer. But the proof is in the pudding, and the dessert menu at Old Trafford currently only serves Casemiro and Fernandes.
Mainoo is likely to push for a loan in January in the hope of boosting his chances of being included in the Three Lion’s squad for the World Cup next summer, with Thomas Tuchel recently favoring other options.
And it is this prospect – a Carrington graduate with fantastic talent leaving United – that worries Butt, a fellow academy midfielder.
Mainoo is a “superstar”
Speak with Air sportsButt describes Mainoo’s lack of involvement as “bizarre” because the youngster is a “superstar”.
“I’m worried about him because he’s a superstar. He came into the England team at the age of 18, 19. He was one of the best performers for us at the Euros. He came through the academy at Man United from the age of seven. He was there when I was there as academy manager. I know him as a person. I knew him as a young boy. I know him as a young man. I know the talent he has.”
“And the scary thing for me is that if Kobbie Mainoo, for example, played for Crystal Palace, if he were at any other football club, except Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, where it is difficult to get players out, Man United would want to replace him for 50 years in January.” [or] 60 million.
“And it’s sad because I know how much he loves football. I know how much he loves the football club. More importantly, as we all know, we know what talent he has and that’s a shame.”
“And he’s a player we can really use because a player of his type shouldn’t be loaned out. The club wants you or you leave. It seems like the club doesn’t want him in the starting line-up, which for me is bizarre with some of the players that are playing.”
Butt is not the only one baffled by Amorim’s apparent distaste for Mainoo this season, especially given the abject displays of Manuel Ugarte, who has played almost double the minutes of his England teammate.
The former United man even suggests he would advise Mainoo to push for a departure to further his own career, despite how much Butt wants the 20-year-old to stay.
“So if I were his advisor, I would say, ‘Look, if you don’t get the start soon, you need to find a new club that is going to appreciate you, that is going to advance your career and that is going to get you to the level you should be at and we all know you should be doing that.'”
And a former teammate of Butt’s has echoed his views, with Wes Brown – speaking in an exclusive interview with The Peoples Person – demanding Amorim give Mainoo more chances before the end of the season, where United will invest the majority of their budget in two new midfielders.
If Mainoo is the ‘superstar’ the club’s former players believe him to be, he could potentially save United a huge fee in the summer. This writer certainly hopes that this is the end of the story we ultimately see, and not the end of Mainoo’s career at Old Trafford.
Featured image George Wood via Getty Images
The Peoples Person has been one of Man United’s most important news sites for over ten years. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social
#Kobbie #Mainoo #Nicky #Butt #concerned #Man #United #star #Man #United #News #Transfer #News #Peoples #Person