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2024-25 Performances


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English 19 years old, played in the European final. He'd have loads of suitors

It’d have to be an English team to spend that sort of cash.

Arsenal won’t. We wouldn’t sell to Liverpool or City. It’d only be Chelsea.
 
It’d have to be an English team to spend that sort of cash.

Arsenal won’t. We wouldn’t sell to Liverpool or City. It’d only be Chelsea.
I just hope he gets his head down and starts being the ball carrying maestro we need.

The talent is all there.
 
He's not even 20 yet and we're judging him on 6 months of last season when he burst onto the scene. Not as good this season but there were games where he showed quality again. Do hope he and Garnacho can be good for us and we don't have to sell those 2 to buy players.
 
Spurs. Berrada has to take Levy to the cleaners and rebuilt the whole midfield with proceeds.

Spurs? A 100m? No way they'd spend that much.

Nobody's buying Mainoo for 100m. He's good, but not 100m good.
 
It’d have to be an English team to spend that sort of cash.

Arsenal won’t. We wouldn’t sell to Liverpool or City. It’d only be Chelsea.

Or PSG. He will go earn lots of money there… and ruin his football career
 
Last season, I would have said no chance.. this season after watching his development, I dont think he will be a top tier player. He may have a good career elsewhere but I cannot see him suceeding for us.

He lacks fundamentals to play in Cm.
 
People are being harsh on Mainoo and again its because our squad lacks senior, experienced talent that so much is expected of a 19 year old central midfielder. The fact is he's played 40 league games. It's nothing. Clearly has enough talent to pursue with trying to develop him,

if giving a manager time to develop young players the way he wants to isn't part of the managers job description and expectation, then what's the point? Sell him and go spunk 50m on some gamble from ligue 1?

We either want a new philosophy at the club or we dont, and if we do, then it means 2-3 years not expecting instant success.
 
Player who can't play more then 60 minutes in a match, has played half a season of good football and is pushing for 180k while being injured quite a lot can't see what could possibly go wrong here.
 
I'm with you on this. Too much too soon. Over exposure, increased adulation. Great for the bank balance but not healthy for a young guy.

There's a reason we struggle to keep our young talents performing past that initial bursting onto the scene phase.

Not putting Mainoo in that category yet but can we get a young player through who is just low key?
I would say Amad is pretty low-key. But in any event, I don't have any problem with the attitude shown by Kobbie thus far - seems like a pretty grounded lad.
 
I would say Amad is pretty low-key. But in any event, I don't have any problem with the attitude shown by Kobbie thus far - seems like a pretty grounded lad.

Yeah Amad seems to be, I just wouldn't call him a young player whose come through the United ranks.

We've lost so much talent to mentality issues you'd think there'd be more protection, less exposure of young players.

We didn't hear Giggs speak for the first 18 month, today's lot are on the cover of GQ after a handful of good games.
 
People are being harsh on Mainoo and again its because our squad lacks senior, experienced talent that so much is expected of a 19 year old central midfielder. The fact is he's played 40 league games. It's nothing. Clearly has enough talent to pursue with trying to develop him,

if giving a manager time to develop young players the way he wants to isn't part of the managers job description and expectation, then what's the point? Sell him and go spunk 50m on some gamble from ligue 1?

We either want a new philosophy at the club or we dont, and if we do, then it means 2-3 years not expecting instant success.
Excellent post
 
Won't surprise me if he wants to go to Spain - Barca can't afford him (& don't need him), so possibly Madrid? I don't think any of their current midfielders have really cemented their place in there. But yeah, we'd probably end up getting around 60-70m for him if he had to leave.

I hope he obviously stays and develops into a great midfielder.
 
People are being harsh on Mainoo and again its because our squad lacks senior, experienced talent that so much is expected of a 19 year old central midfielder. The fact is he's played 40 league games. It's nothing. Clearly has enough talent to pursue with trying to develop him,

if giving a manager time to develop young players the way he wants to isn't part of the managers job description and expectation, then what's the point? Sell him and go spunk 50m on some gamble from ligue 1?

We either want a new philosophy at the club or we dont, and if we do, then it means 2-3 years not expecting instant success.
This is 100% correct...but...most of this chat is because his 'camp' have demanded outrageous wages to keep him here.

If he was in head-down, prove himself, get fitter and better mode than no one would have a bad word about him.
 
I really think he'd thrive in a three-man midfield. I was watching PSG against Liverpool recently, and he would add incredible depth to an already impressive midfield packed with technicians. His versatility and quality on the ball would be a perfect fit.

That said, though I'm not entirely sure about his current contract situation, I really hope he stays and gets more opportunities further up the pitch, as a 10. I truly believe that position would bring out the best in him.
 
This is 100% correct...but...most of this chat is because his 'camp' have demanded outrageous wages to keep him here.

If he was in head-down, prove himself, get fitter and better mode than no one would have a bad word about him.

Yes completely fair to criticise any demands that are known to be outrageous, and should he do any of the rashford playbook of public statements that are deliberately vague and self centered, then criticise Mainoo himself. I do think he should be on higher wages, nothing crazy for a player in a team having the worst season in living memory, but if these figures are right - Mainoo presently on 20,000 a week, and Madueke on 50,000 and John McGinn on 120,000- I think something around 85,000 in this day and age is fair for a player expected to feature a lot at Man Utd.

Theres no point of course comparing his salaries to terrible decisions weve made paying our own, eg whatever Mount is on. He surely understands we wont fix the club by doing the same nonsense over and over.

EDIT: reading that there are 'demands of up to 180,000 a week. Thats absolutely absurd. Amads new deal is around 100k - asking more than that is actually a bit embarrassing considering amad has been head and shoulders above most.
 
Regardless of the transfer/contract speculation I hope he's back soon. We need more options for the midfield or 10 roles. IIRC he did pretty well in his last Europa League start too.
 
I hold absolutely no ill-will towards Mainoo and think he's a great talent for his age but I'd seriously question whether he's more valuable to us than the opportunities that selling him would open up in the market this summer.

I'll be honest, I haven't seen many good arguments for turning down £70-80 million in pure profit for Mainoo (which, as I understand it, would open up a lot more than that in PSR wiggle room); it seems to be quite heavily based on sentimental factors. I'm not sure we're in a position to let sentiment dictate our transfer policy at the moment.
 
I hold absolutely no ill-will towards Mainoo and think he's a great talent for his age but I'd seriously question whether he's more valuable to us than the opportunities that selling him would open up in the market this summer.

I'll be honest, I haven't seen many good arguments for turning down £70-80 million in pure profit for Mainoo (which, as I understand it, would open up a lot more than that in PSR wiggle room); it seems to be quite heavily based on sentimental factors. I'm not sure we're in a position to let sentiment dictate our transfer policy at the moment.
Reasons to keep Mainoo:
  • This club is built on building around their academy graduates, he is a star talent
  • He has massive potential and has been a United lad for ages, and could easily be a future captain. He has some very rare attributes but yes has to develop other parts... He's 19, no big deal there.
  • The club will, based on the past 10 years, likely not spend the money we get wisely
  • Him leaving opens up a hole in the squad that we'd need to spend 40m to fill
  • We are years away from anything successful. Better to build around our core young group and surround them with better talent to help develop them, so they peak at the same time rather than sell the only players that might get us out of this. Build around Yoro, Mainoo, Amad, Garnacho. Those are the core group who, if we have a successful future, will be the key to it. Selling them for short term improvements is dumb, selling them to buy lesser talents is also just lowering your potential as a team (Dorgu for example is a young and decent talent, but he isn't on par with those 4 as prospects).
Reasons to sell Mainoo:
  • Football reasons - Not a natural fit for Amorim's system (who is...)
  • Board reasons - Can get good money for him so we can help to fix whatever financial issue we have, if we have one
Basically, if the club doesn't have financial issues, then it's shit to sell him. If there are other ways out of the financial issues, then it'd be better to take those routes. He's exactly the sort of talent you want your club to develop so you can build around them, both to help build your club identity (it is absolutely important to have this), but also because you want star talents. The ONLY situation where he should be sold is if we literally have no other way out of the financial issues and are in genuine trouble, and selling players like him and Garna is the only way. If we do this to accelerate the attempted rebuild by a year, then the owners/people in charge can go feck themselves.

Saying all that, if I was their agent looking out for the good of their own careers... I'd probably be telling them to leave, develop elsewhere, and look to come back 5 years from now on a free in the hope that the club sorted itself out.
 
This is 100% correct...but...most of this chat is because his 'camp' have demanded outrageous wages to keep him here.

If he was in head-down, prove himself, get fitter and better mode than no one would have a bad word about him.
Yep
 
Yes completely fair to criticise any demands that are known to be outrageous, and should he do any of the rashford playbook of public statements that are deliberately vague and self centered, then criticise Mainoo himself. I do think he should be on higher wages, nothing crazy for a player in a team having the worst season in living memory, but if these figures are right - Mainoo presently on 20,000 a week, and Madueke on 50,000 and John McGinn on 120,000- I think something around 85,000 in this day and age is fair for a player expected to feature a lot at Man Utd.

Theres no point of course comparing his salaries to terrible decisions weve made paying our own, eg whatever Mount is on. He surely understands we wont fix the club by doing the same nonsense over and over.

EDIT: reading that there are 'demands of up to 180,000 a week. Thats absolutely absurd. Amads new deal is around 100k - asking more than that is actually a bit embarrassing considering amad has been head and shoulders above most.
Agreed, maybe you can argue Kobbie being English commands an over-adjustment, but anything crazy (75k plus etc) seems ridiculous at this stage.
 
Reasons to keep Mainoo:
  • This club is built on building around their academy graduates, he is a star talent
  • He has massive potential and has been a United lad for ages, and could easily be a future captain. He has some very rare attributes but yes has to develop other parts... He's 19, no big deal there.
  • The club will, based on the past 10 years, likely not spend the money we get wisely
  • Him leaving opens up a hole in the squad that we'd need to spend 40m to fill
  • We are years away from anything successful. Better to build around our core young group and surround them with better talent to help develop them, so they peak at the same time rather than sell the only players that might get us out of this. Build around Yoro, Mainoo, Amad, Garnacho. Those are the core group who, if we have a successful future, will be the key to it. Selling them for short term improvements is dumb, selling them to buy lesser talents is also just lowering your potential as a team (Dorgu for example is a young and decent talent, but he isn't on par with those 4 as prospects).
Reasons to sell Mainoo:
  • Football reasons - Not a natural fit for Amorim's system (who is...)
  • Board reasons - Can get good money for him so we can help to fix whatever financial issue we have, if we have one
Basically, if the club doesn't have financial issues, then it's shit to sell him. If there are other ways out of the financial issues, then it'd be better to take those routes. He's exactly the sort of talent you want your club to develop so you can build around them, both to help build your club identity (it is absolutely important to have this), but also because you want star talents. The ONLY situation where he should be sold is if we literally have no other way out of the financial issues and are in genuine trouble, and selling players like him and Garna is the only way. If we do this to accelerate the attempted rebuild by a year, then the owners/people in charge can go feck themselves.

Saying all that, if I was their agent looking out for the good of their own careers... I'd probably be telling them to leave, develop elsewhere, and look to come back 5 years from now on a free in the hope that the club sorted itself out.
I feel like your arguments around building around a core young group falls apart a bit when you consider that we have a vanishingly small crop of established players in their peak years to make this workable.

Of the players who have played considerable minutes this season, you've got Ugarte, Dalot, Mazraoui, De Ligt, Onana and Martinez who I'd say fit into that category. There are pretty huge question marks around Martinez's fitness (he's almost certainly out for the first half of next season and Christ only knows how long it'll take him to be back up to speed), there are pretty huge question marks around Onana's ability, and having either Dalot or Mazraoui as your right wing-back isn't particularly ideal either. I don't think it's too much of a stretch to say we have three or four dependable established, peak age players throughout the entire squad. Although he's 30 now, you can then definitely add Fernandes to the mix for meantime - he is in fact still our talisman.

The bottom-line is, though, that we are sorely lacking in established talents who are in their prime years right now. I just don't think that's the sort of environment that is conducive to the development of young players. It's well and good saying that we don't want to sacrifice our long-term success for short-term gain but if we continue to be shite in the short-term, the young players will likely stagnate and look elsewhere anyway.

To be honest, if I were to pick one of Mainoo or Garnacho to sell should it be necessary, I'd probably opt for the latter. With that said, I think if we get really good offers for either this summer we'd be unwise to reject them out of hand.
 
Regardless of the transfer/contract speculation I hope he's back soon. We need more options for the midfield or 10 roles. IIRC he did pretty well in his last Europa League start too.

I agree. However, in his next match in the same position in the Premier League, he looked way off.
 
The case for Mainoo is very strong, though obviously there is no guarantee of long term brilliance.

Right now the chatter arises from, it seems to me at least, agent shithousery. I’m not yet ready to condemn Kobbie Mainoo as a human being or a soulless mercenary.
 
Still out injured it seems. Was hoping he'd be back after the international break.
 
English 19 years old, played in the European final. He'd have loads of suitors

For a reasonable fee he would have some of the best clubs in the premier league interested. £100 million is closer to 3 times a reasonable fee for Mainoo. Nobody would be interested at that price unless he was playing like Bruno
 
For a reasonable fee he would have some of the best clubs in the premier league interested. £100 million is closer to 3 times a reasonable fee for Mainoo. Nobody would be interested at that price unless he was playing like Bruno

A Villa or Chelsea or even a West Ham will take a punt on him for 50M I'd say. 70M and it's getting tricky.
 
Discussion of Mainoo as a United player only. New
There is a thread to discuss the potential transfer or discuss his contract situation (inclusive) of Kobbie Mainoo in the transfer forum, here: https://www.redcafe.net/threads/kobbie-mainoo-out.486402/page-34

This is the performance thread where he is discussed as a Manchester United player. If you wish to talk about either his contract situation or potential transfer, use the appropriate thread. Subsequent posts about either his contract or transfer situation will be deleted.
 
Last season, I would have said no chance.. this season after watching his development, I dont think he will be a top tier player. He may have a good career elsewhere but I cannot see him suceeding for us.

He lacks fundamentals to play in Cm.
He's 20 and hasn't played two full seasons. You do not have anywhere near the required volume of data to make a proclamation like that, which is baffling on the face of it because there has been more positive than negative in his development so far. Why not factor last season and the Euros into your bold prediction?
 
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He's 20 and hasn't played two full seasons. You do not have anywhere near the required volume of data to make a proclamation like that, which is baffling on the face of it because there has been more positive than negative in his development so far. Why not factor last season and the Euros into your bold prediction?

That's a fair point. Since his debut, which was about 18 months ago, he came in and was very good on the ball and dribbling, what positive development have you seen so far?

Read my first line... Last year no chance... would give you a hint to what I thought he was like last year, quite good for a breakout year. He go into the England team, which is good but lets be honest, the pickings for the England CM position is not great. He was competing against a RB in TAA, so lets not get carried away. Also, England were dominated in midfield by Zubimendi and co.
 
That's a fair point. Since his debut, which was about 18 months ago, he came in and was very good on the ball and dribbling, what positive development have you seen so far?

Read my first line... Last year no chance... would give you a hint to what I thought he was like last year, quite good for a breakout year. He go into the England team, which is good but lets be honest, the pickings for the England CM position is not great. He was competing against a RB in TAA, so lets not get carried away. Also, England were dominated in midfield by Zubimendi and co.

Shock horror as teenager has tough second season in fallen giants' historically poor side. Not to mention some stop-start with injuries and managerial hijinks.

But ultimately it's just a pity the lad lives in a world where all development is linear. Otherwise he'd be worth a shout but - seeing as he was only the second best midfielder for a nation that made the final, getting outplayed by a midfielder Europe's finest are queuing up to throw money at - probably not.
 
That's a fair point. Since his debut, which was about 18 months ago, he came in and was very good on the ball and dribbling, what positive development have you seen so far?

Read my first line... Last year no chance... would give you a hint to what I thought he was like last year, quite good for a breakout year. He go into the England team, which is good but lets be honest, the pickings for the England CM position is not great. He was competing against a RB in TAA, so lets not get carried away. Also, England were dominated in midfield by Zubimendi and co.
He completely changed the tournament for England (not an opinion, he did) when he came on against Slovenia at half time so I'm not particularly bothered by who his competition was, and if all you remember from his performances at the Euros is the match against Spain I'm not sure what the point of posting in this thread is for you? He has less than a season's worth of matches under his belt and only debuted last season. What exactly is your idea of a development arch?
 
He completely changed the tournament for England (not an opinion, he did) when he came on against Slovenia at half time so I'm not particularly bothered by who his competition was, and if all you remember from his performances at the Euros is the match against Spain I'm not sure what the point of posting in this thread is for you? He has less than a season's worth of matches under his belt and only debuted last season. What exactly is your idea of a development arch?

I dont think England were that great in the whole tournament, but I will put that down to the manager really.

Well, development meaning him improving, which he hasn't done so, he has regressed more than he has improved since his debut.

He has also become somewhat injury prone, which is another reason I do not think he will be W.C level.

He will still be a very good player, just not the level most expect him to be because he is not an all round player.
 
At this point - with so little left to play for outside of EL - would his long-term fitness be best served by taking the rest of the season off and focussing on development instead?

As silky as he has always looked - and his on the ball ability is unquestioned - a central player needs a better 'engine' than he has shown to possess. Surely there's something we can do on that given his age?