Manchester United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo’s future at the club is in serious jeopardy after he requested to leave Old Trafford on loan during the summer transfer window
Kobbie Mainoo pictured in Manchester United training this week ahead of the Premier League clash with Brentford(Image: Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images)
Former Manchester United centre-back Rio Ferdinand has pleaded with the club to find a way of keeping Kobbie Mainoo at Old Trafford as uncertainty surrounding the midfielder’s future continues.
The Manchester Evening News reported in August that Kobbie Mainoo had handed in a loan request to the club after failing to start any of the club’s Premier League matches in 2025/26. This was rejected by Ruben Amorim, who insisted that the 20-year-old remained firmly in the club’s plans.
However, in the limited time since the summer transfer window shut, Mainoo has remained a bit-part player, leading many United fans to speculate whether or not the Stockport-born midfielder will be remaining at Old Trafford beyond this season or even January, considering that next summer is the World Cup. Speaking exclusively to MEN Sport as he fronts Talking Futures’ new initiative Half Time Talks, Ferdinand insisted that he could sympathise with the midfielder’s predicament.
“If he was agitating to get a loan now, if he is not playing in January, he will be agitating and knocking the door down even more to go and get game time,” the former defender insisted. “He has had a taste of a tournament with England and came out of it with absolutely flying colours and he will want a taste of that again, and rightly so.
“You have to have two hats in these situations. If you think about it being a player again, you have got to be thinking about yourself in these situations.
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“You are lucky to go to multiple tournaments in your career, you are lucky to go to just one tournament, so I understand that with my selfish, football player hat on, thinking about England and yourself. But, at the same time, if you are thinking long-term for Manchester United, I think Manchester United have to find a way of getting this kid in the team, he is a huge talent.
“Is there another way to get him in the team? What does he need to do? That is the big thing for me, as long as those conversations are going on.
“Has he asked those questions, or is he being told that this is what he needs to be doing? Is this a requirement? Work on this and then you will get an opportunity and then it is down to him.” Amorim has spoken openly about how Mainoo is currently in direct competition with Bruno Fernandes for a spot in the team and Ferdinand believes that it should not necessarily be the case that the young midfielder has to wait for the captain to leave before he makes his mark in the first-team.
“I was a footballer once and if I was in his situation, I would be impatient,” Ferdinand admitted. “I am not looking to sit around.
Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand(Image: Getty Images)
“I went on loan to Bournemouth and I was doing well and I said to Harry Redknapp at the time, he said he wanted me to come back (to West Ham), but I said I am only coming back if I am playing.
“Am I playing or not? He said: ‘Listen, I am going to get you game time and you are going to start playing,’ and I was not in a position like Kobbie Mainoo, who has been to a tournament for England and playing really well and playing some big games for United, so I can understand his frustrations. For a young footballer, they want to play.
“Whatever is going on behind the scenes, I hope there is that transparency and communication as to why he is not playing and how he gets himself back in the team.” While he can see why Mainoo could be itching to move to get further minutes, Ferdinand was in little doubt about where he wants the midfielder to be moving forward.
“I don’t want Kobbie Mainoo putting on any other shirt other than England’s or Man United’s,” he pleaded. “Simple as.”
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