Hypothetical - Would you sell Kobbie Mainoo for £100m?

[Daydreamer]

I feel the question is a bit vague and United have a history of not being savvy in the transfer market, so it's reasonable for most people to be apprehensive. It's also the natural course of all things online to get divisive. On one hand, you get those who, after a decade of mismanagement, wish for the club to become more "cold" and businesslike, so "everyone has a price tag". On the other, there are fans who value the traditions of a "family" club more, so there's "no way we should sell our best academy product".

You need to be more specific, even in a hypothetical situation. For example, knowing that Amorim wants to utilize two #10s, would you take 100 million for Mainoo, if it meant that you could afford the extra cash that would allow you to beat City/Real Madrid to acquiring Florian Wirtz's signature? Or something like that.

I don't know where i'd stand in such a scenario. The way you pose the question, i lean toward no because i rate Mainoo and i want to see more from INEOS to trust their judgement on the big calls. But rating someone shouldn't mean "unsellable". Because if he's not for sale (you rate him that high), you're kind of forced to keep giving him the bumper contracts no matter what. And this pain is too close to the heart nowadays.

There are so many variables that I agree you would have to narrow down the question to even have a discussion about.

No, I wouldn't sell him for 100m and I don't think any well-run club would even contemplate the idea.

I'm not saying Mainoo has a ceiling as high as them (because I think his peak potential is just a level below most of the examples I'm gonna list, although not all of them, and he's still an absolutely elite level talent), but ask yourself if their clubs would sell the likes of Camavinga, Pedri, Gavi, Caicedo, Saliba, Gvardiol, Olise, J. Neves, Zaire-Emery etc. for 100 million.

@Rojofiam talks about the peak potential of "Camavinga, Pedri, Gavi, Caicedo, Saliba, Gvardiol, Olise, J. Neves, Zaire-Emery", but those players are not highly valued by their clubs because of their potential. Every single on of them has become a mainstay in a side that has and challenged for, or in many cases, won a league title. They also have a ton of international caps and a fair few even have international medals tot their name.

That is frankly nothing like Mainoo. It's not his fault that he's had a fair few injuries, or that a new Manager has been hired who prefers a system that may not suit him. But he won't fair well in comparison to players who are among the first names on the team sheet for teams that are gunning for major honours.

To appear edgy.

@343 evidently can't even conceive of anyone genuinely holding this opinion. It's not edgy at all to consider selling a promising youngster for a little under the British transfer record. I don't think it's something only a small club would do. In fact, I think it's something a successful club does (e.g. City with Palmer / Real with Odegaard) because they're absolutely certain that they can replace them either internally or externally. Successful clubs simply aren't forced to reject any and all offers for talents like Mainoo because there is more where that came from - either through the academy or through who they can attract to the club in transfer market.

Of course, there are reasonable counterarguments to my viewpoint. You may think the the money wouldn't be well spent. Mainoo also may have a sentimental value to United that has nothing to do with money. If he wasn't pushing for a move, Arsenal would likely reject £200m for Saka. That figure exceeds his "market value", however we define that, but it doesn't cover what he is worth to us a club.

 

[alexthelion]

Anyone who follows United would’ve known about him a year ago.

As to the original question, absolutely not. We have plenty of other players like Rashford, Antony, Sancho, Casemiro, Maguire, Erikson, and Lindelof who can be sold. In fact at 19, Mainoo is literally the last player any serious club dedicated to building a league and CL contender for the next decade would consider selling.

No one in the current squad should be kept if a decent enough offer is received.

 

[Rossa]

No one in the current squad should be kept if a decent enough offer is received.

Amad, Mainoo and Yoro exempted most likely. Højlund if he continues his scoring form.

 

[alexthelion]

I know it's hypothetical but I find the question offensive. If he wasn't ours, we would be wondering how to put together the 100m to get him.

Please go watch the highlights from the FA cup final where he displayed so much composure for a young player, not just for the goal but in his overall game.

No we wouldn't, hes worth half that at the very best.

 

[devilish]

Any serious club know that the 'not selling at any price' quote is a myth. Ronaldo Nazario moved clubs, Zidane and Roberto Baggio left Juventus in what was considered their prime, so on and so forth. No disrespect towards Mainoo but they were way better players.

On top of that 100m pounds is huge money. In 22/23 there was 1 transfer who broke the 100m barrier, in 23/24 there were 3 transfers who broke that barrier and last season there was no one. On top of that it would represent pure profit which would boost our finances massively.

If we really have best in class transfer negotiators then we must trust in their ability of making each pound worth. There again with so much deadwood at Manchester United, I do hope that we make the much necessary funds needed by selling those instead.

 

[Bluetown]

I don't think United should think about selling him in the next 2 years. He's the kind of young talent you look to build a team around. He'd have a better future playing in the Carrick role (playmaking DM) than a box-to-box midfielder (CM), he doesn't have the tools to succeed, certainly in the PL, at it.

Also, there is no way we are paying 100m for this current version of Mainoo as our 4th choice CM/DM. We have 15m Brazilian wonderkid Andre Santos for that.

 

[Lennon7]

Yes I would. He’s got a lot of potential but as we’ve seen with Garnacho, you can have a break out season and then start to look distinctly average. Mainoo hasn’t kicked on this season like how I thought he would. I would personally take it and invest that money into multiple positions given the financial mess the club is in and the amount of positions we need filling.

I mean, they’re both 20 or under. I wouldn’t say any of them look distinctly average and as I’ve said previously we need to start levelling up these sorts of players, that’s the real test

 

[Rojofiam]

@Rojofiam talks about the peak potential of "Camavinga, Pedri, Gavi, Caicedo, Saliba, Gvardiol, Olise, J. Neves, Zaire-Emery", but those players are not highly valued by their clubs because of their potential. Every single on of them has become a mainstay in a side that has and challenged for, or in many cases, won a league title. They also have a ton of international caps and a fair few even have international medals tot their name.

That is frankly nothing like Mainoo. It's not his fault that he's had a fair few injuries, or that a new Manager has been hired who prefers a system that may not suit him. But he won't fair well in comparison to players who are among the first names on the team sheet for teams that are gunning for major honours.

Trophy logic even when in this thread? Deary me.

I think this is an absolute nonsense of a post. Unless I misunderstand what you're saying.

 

[themanguydude]

not at all but as a supporter why not give the kid a chance to fulfil his potential

Under normal circumstances I think he should and I don't think I've said otherwise, but a £100m offer is anything but normal. It's a price that I think even we wouldn't pay for him, had he not been one of our players.

the equivalencies to those two was because of their undoubtedly talent and inconsistency, both of which characterise Mainoo to a large degree

Januzaj was also undoutedly talented and inconsistent in his first few seasons as well. He was "inconsistent" until his inconsistency became a consistent thing

what I do find ridiculous is the idea of United selling one of our brightest prospects to a rival. especially given that the only current midfielder we have more important than him is arguably Ugarte

It doesn't necessary have to be to a rival

just curious do you, as a supporter, not think that Mainoo has the potential to be a top player for us for years to come?

I have faith that he would, but it's also the same faith for a lot of other youngsters that have never made it over the years. I guess the most recent one is Rashford.

At some point, you need to be able to stop being hopeful and be calculative if you're in a position to make these kind of decisions and £100m is just way too good to turn down.

If there's one thing this club has done incredibly badly over the years, it's hoarding youth players for far too long.

 

[JE-365]

No. IMO He’s the only current player who is untouchable in this current squad.

 

[Gopher Brown]

There's a chance he doesn't develop his game and becomes another not-quite-good-enough squad player in a few years, if that happens then he has cost us wages alone. But there's also a chance he becomes a top class midfielder, so no, I wouldn't take the money. You have to be patient with young players and help them develop their games.

 

[Daydreamer]

Trophy logic even when in this thread? Deary me.

I think this is an absolute nonsense of a post. Unless I misunderstand what you're saying.

I’m not sure what trophy logic is. And you didn’t offer any explanation about why it’s nonsense of a post, so it’s somewhat difficult to take that seriously.

You listed a bunch of names of players that their clubs wouldn’t sell for £100m. I broadly agree with your list. What I disagree with is why those players are on that list. You say Mainoo has as similar potential to those players. I’m not 100% sure about that, but for arguments sake let’s say that’s the case. Those players aren’t valued so highly because of their potential. They’re valued highly because they are among the first names on the team sheet for top teams.

If talk of trophies triggers you, let’s use Saliba as an example. He hasn’t won any major trophies in his career so far. However, he’s been the bedrock of a side that has challenged for the PL for two seasons running (it should be three but we’re in terrible form). And is arguably the most consistently excellent CB in the country over the last two and half seasons.

Mainoo is not even nailed on starter for a team currently in the bottom half of the table. One of these things is not like the other.

He’s a talented young player with a ton of potential. But this thread is entirely hypothetical because no one would bid £100m for him. United wouldn’t bid £100m for him if he came through, say, Southampton’s academy. Whereas if, for some reason, we put Saliba up for sale, several clubs would make that sort of bid immediately.

 

[TheReligion]

The answer to the question is no.

Chelsea had to spend over 100m a piece for Enzo and Caceido. Arsenal the same for Rice.

One of the most difficult positions to recruit in and KMs potential is huge.

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

I was told a CFO at a football agency said Chelsea will test Manchester United with £100m for Kobbie Mainoo in the summer and chuckled

I don't believe it and I'm not trying to suggest its a reasonable source, hence this is certainly not a "Mainoo (Out)" thread. But I did wonder what we'd do in that situation - would we accept it and would that be the right move? If we had the right talent identification through Wilcox/Vivel that £100m can take us a long way.

What would you think in this hypothetical scenario? I'd always keep Mainoo he's indispensable but I also think we have a lot of areas needing fixing and we'll need to offload talent to do it. It's a shame no one will take Rashford and other deadwood.

No.

 

[Kush]

Yes

I remember the infamous Anthony Martial thread "Would you sell Martial if it meant we got Lionel Messi?". Utd fans overwhelmingly voted in favor of no.

 

[TheReligion]

Yes

I remember the infamous Anthony Martial thread "Would you sell Martial if it meant we got Lionel Messi?". Utd fans overwhelmingly voted in favor of no.

Who we getting to replace Kobbie then?

 

[Redfrog]

Yes I would. He’s got a lot of potential but as we’ve seen with Garnacho, you can have a break out season and then start to look distinctly average. Mainoo hasn’t kicked on this season like how I thought he would. I would personally take it and invest that money into multiple positions given the financial mess the club is in and the amount of positions we need filling.

Second season syndrome is kind of usual with youngsters comming through.
Selling Mainoo is going against the identity of this club.
We should always look to develop special players. Mainoo can be ace is managed properly. He is still very Young.

 

[wolvored]

Snap their hand off for £100 mill. Rice (£105 mill) is head and shoulders above him at the moment and noone knows how Mainoo will turn out. Hes got potential to be a WC player, but so did Rashford at his age.

 

[matt10000]

There is more to football than being logical. For me, winning with home grown talent is what differentiates us.

 

[Rozay]

Probably.

 

[Rozay]

There is more to football than being logical. For me, winning with home grown talent is what differentiates us.

We won’t be winning with anybody if we don’t have a good enough team.

 

[RedFanaticTattooist]

Sure i would. Mainoo had an amazing start but since then weaknesses appeared. Still, he has a chance to be a class player but for 100m we could buy someone who is a class player already and in our situation that would be a lot bigger help.

 

[343]

I agree it's inane but probably for different reasons

There's a reason you couldn't just give a simple yes to my question, because deep down you know your truthful answer would betray the point you're trying to make.

People are talking like there's a bunch of clubs lining up to bid £100m for Mainoo, when in all likelihood even we ourselves wouldn't have wanted him at that price

It's inane because no club is insane enough to pay £100m for Mainoo at his current level, so why stop at £100m? When you're already so detached from reality, why not £250m? Why not £1b? It's just making up fantastical numbers at this point.

Glad to know you are more in touch with my deep down than I am myself (wait, that sounds wrong, sorry).

In all seriousness, I don't disagree that no club is going to offer 100m for him right now, but if anyone did (since we are dealing with hypotheticals here), I would still say no. We have a potentially world-class player already in the squad, why mess with that? Big clubs don't sell for money (unless they are already old and about to go into decline like Madrid with Ronaldo). Big clubs hang on to players who are potential stars. It's a chance worth taking, particularly considering how difficult we find it to replace players.

 

[Matt851]

Yes

 

[Rojofiam]

I’m not sure what trophy logic is. And you didn’t offer any explanation about why it’s nonsense of a post, so it’s somewhat difficult to take that seriously.

You listed a bunch of names of players that their clubs wouldn’t sell for £100m. I broadly agree with your list. What I disagree with is why those players are on that list. You say Mainoo has as similar potential to those players. I’m not 100% sure about that, but for arguments sake let’s say that’s the case. Those players aren’t valued so highly because of their potential. They’re valued highly because they are among the first names on the team sheet for top teams.

If talk of trophies triggers you, let’s use Saliba as an example. He hasn’t won any major trophies in his career so far. However, he’s been the bedrock of a side that has challenged for the PL for two seasons running (it should be three but we’re in terrible form). And is arguably the most consistently excellent CB in the country over the last two and half seasons.

Mainoo is not even nailed on starter for a team currently in the bottom half of the table. One of these things is not like the other.

He’s a talented young player with a ton of potential. But this thread is entirely hypothetical because no one would bid £100m for him. United wouldn’t bid £100m for him if he came through, say, Southampton’s academy. Whereas if, for some reason, we put Saliba up for sale, several clubs would make that sort of bid immediately.

Your arguments don't really make sense to me.

United are bad on the pitch right now, but are the same stature of club (arguably bigger) as most of the clubs those players I listed play for. United have the same, if not bigger ambitions than most of those clubs as well.

He's clearly an undisputed starter at United. I'm not sure how you could possibly deny this. He's also good enough to play for any club in the world. Maybe he wouldn't start at Madrid or Barcelona but he's easily good enough to play for any team.

Are you just not rating the player highly because his team is collectively bad? Or somehow United should sell him for 100m if such an offer was made, because....we are bad? I really don't get what you're trying to say.

Do you think Saka wasn't a 100 million talent until the 2022/23 season, using your own thought process? Because Arsenal were shit until then, and Saka made his Arsenal debut more than 3 years before that season. Or Saliba and Rice, at Marseille and West Ham, weren't valued highly because they weren't starters for top clubs?

 

[Borninthe80ts]

One of the best young midfielders around with his ceiling still to be defined. I’d prefer to keep him here and see how he progresses.

 

[P-Nut]

Not for me, he's one of my favourite players to watch at the moment, and what's the point of football if not to enjoy it?

 

[Yagami]

Look at our central midfield signings since Carrick. In almost 20 years, we haven't signed one midfielder that ended up being as good as we've needed them to be for various reasons, and I liked Herrera, Pogba and Matic.

Mainoo is a very talented player who came through the academy, and, despite a chunk of the fanbase not liking that academy players are prioritised here, they are. Rightly so. Integrating talented players from the academy has always been important here.

I wouldn't even consider it, and that could be a mistake going off of how every big academy talent has turned out since maybe Fletcher, but that doesn't matter to me. I want every big prospect from our academy to get the time here to hopefully develop into a good to great player for us.

 

[Daydreamer]

United are bad on the pitch right now, but are the same stature of club (arguably bigger) as most of the clubs those players I listed play for. United have the same, if not bigger ambitions than most of those clubs as well.

United a obviously a huge club, arguably the biggest. But the actual team itself is middling. It's literally mid-table. You say it has bigger ambitions than most of the clubs you've mentioned, but that can only be referring to the long term. Only United's short term ambitions (and position) are relevant to Mainoo right now and those are playing in second-tier European competition and finishing in the top four. All of the other players you've mention have to contend with pressure of challenging for titles and competing in the highest level club competition on the planet. They are simply faced with (and have risen to the required levels of) higher demands than Mainoo has. That makes them more valuable as they have proven their ability to consistently contribute at the highest level.

He's clearly an undisputed starter at United. I'm not sure how you could possibly deny this. He's also good enough to play for any club in the world. Maybe he wouldn't start at Madrid or Barcelona but he's easily good enough to play for any team.

A few United fans had mentioned that he may not be a great fit for Amorim's system. I'm happy to defer to your knowledge if that's actually incorrect.

Are you just not rating the player highly because his team is collectively bad? Or somehow United should sell him for 100m if such an offer was made, because....we are bad? I really don't get what you're trying to say.

I keep repeating what I'm trying to say. It's cool disagree, but it's a bit disingenuous to construct straw men. I've never said I didn't rate him. In fact, I explicitly said...

He’s a talented young player with a ton of potential.

Do you think Saka wasn't a 100 million talent until the 2022/23 s eason, using your own thought process? Because Arsenal were shit until then...

That's exactly what I'm saying, yes. Arsenal were a far easier team to break into at the time. As I've also mentioned, a player can have value to their club that far exceeds their market value. So would I have wanted us to sell Saka for a huge sum before that? No. But if some of our fans wanted to, I wouldn't have accused them of talking nonsense. Before 22/23, selling for Saka for £100m would have been a perfectly rational decision.

Or Saliba and Rice, at Marseille and West Ham, weren't valued highly because they weren't starters for top clubs?

Firstly, that's not what I said. Secondly, even had I said that... it would pretty much be true. We bought Saliba for £28m as opposed to £100m... largely because he wasn't a starter for a top club. We paid a huge sum for Rice in his mid twenties with 50+ England caps to his name. If he was 19 years old and had no track record outside of his time at West Ham we wouldn't have paid anything like £105m.

Mainoo certainly has potential. But can you name a single example where a club has offered anything approaching £100m for a teenager who has yet to to even be part of a campaign targeting the biggest club trophies?

(I thought I'd put that in bold because you keep saying you don't get what my point is. That's my point. Answer the bolded question.)

 

[Dominos]

I wouldn't just because £100m just isn't that much these days, it will struggle to get you 2 players. £50m feels like the bare minimum we have to spend to get any player with any sort of profile - look at how much the likes of AWB, Maguire, Antony, Mount, Hojlund, Martinez, Yoro, Ugarte, Casemiro cost us. So the idea that we'll have loads of funds to invest to improve the team overall I'm not buying, and we'd likely just spend the money poorly anyway.

 

[tomaldinho1]

I wouldn't just because £100m just isn't that much these days, it will struggle to get you 2 players. £50m feels like the bare minimum we have to spend to get any player with any sort of profile - look at how much the likes of AWB, Maguire, Antony, Mount, Hojlund, Martinez, Yoro, Ugarte, Casemiro cost us. So the idea that we'll have loads of funds to invest to improve the team overall I'm not buying, and we'd just spend the money poorly anyway.

Not these days. Apart from Boehlys insane spree, who else is dishing out that money for talented teenagers?

 

[wr8_utd]

Who on earth is paying 100m for Mainoo?

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

No, but if it were to happen, he’d likely go to Chelsea and become a world-class player, because let’s be honest, our club is a mess right now—completely toxic from top to bottom. And to make matters worse, the fans aren’t any better.

 

[Roboc7]

We are stuck with so many of our players until their contracts run out because we can’t get rid of them due to their crazy wages and/or the higher PSR loss we’d take by selling them.

The club is going to have to raise money in the transfer market but I’d hope that would come from selling likes or Dalot and Martinez than Mainoo. In theory raising 100m pure profit from one player could speed up the process of rebuilding but putting that successfully into place is not as simple.

 

[Tosicsleftpeg]

No thanks, great little player who almost never puts in a bad performance. He was incredible last season and I want to see how far he can go here

 

[TheReligion]

No, but if it were to happen, he’d likely go to Chelsea and become a world-class player, because let’s be honest, our club is a mess right now—completely toxic from top to bottom. And to make matters worse, the fans aren’t any better.

Why is the club completely toxic from top to bottom then? Elaborate

 

[ForeverRed1]

I’d sell any of our players for that.

 

[antohan]

Very tempting if it gets you 6 Mazraoui's.

Depressing if you see him move on and sit there watching Antony and Zirkzee being pants while costing as much. Sort of cutting the nose to spite the face.

 

[tomaldinho1]

We are stuck with so many of our players until their contracts run out because we can’t get rid of them due to their crazy wages and/or the higher PSR loss we’d take by selling them.

The club is going to have to raise money in the transfer market but I’d hope that would come from selling likes or Dalot and Martinez than Mainoo. In theory raising 100m pure profit from one player could speed up the process of rebuilding but putting that successfully into place is not as simple.

People are going too deep on this question. Nobody on here wants him sold, everyone thinks he’s class, maybe a better question is simply what do we think another club would pay for him?

For me it wouldn’t be close to £100m.

 

[FrankWhite]

No, but if it were to happen, he’d likely go to Chelsea and become a world-class player, because let’s be honest, our club is a mess right now—completely toxic from top to bottom. And to make matters worse, the fans aren’t any better.

You think Mainoo has enough to get in ahead of Caicedo, Enzo or Lavia?