Gary Neville has pinpointed the moment Ruben Amorim ‘killed’ Kobbie Mainoo during his time in control of Manchester United.
Amorim’s reluctance to play Mainoo led the highly-rated England midfielder to ask to depart United.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe blocked Mainoo from leaving last summer but would have been in a difficult position had the 20-year-old made the identical request this month.
Napoli were in talks to sign Mainoo six months ago and were certainly one of around 12 clubs inquisitive about securing his signature throughout the January transfer window.
Desperate for more game-time to spice up his fading hopes of going to this summer’s World Cup, Mainoo was expected to push for a January move.
But that was now not needed because it was Amorim who was leaving Old Trafford earlier within the month, sacked by Manchester United after a disappointing 14-month reign.
Mainoo’s prospects already look brighter within the post-Amorim era, with the United fans’ favourite starting the recent wins over Manchester City and Arsenal under caretaker boss Michael Carrick.
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Neville criticised Amorim’s treatment of Mainoo, a United academy graduate, and says he ‘killed him’ when he publicly declared he was competing with Red Devils captain Bruno Fernandes for a spot within the team.
‘I have to admit, I never liked the handling of Mainoo,’ Old Trafford legend Neville said on the Follow Football podcast.
‘I feel we talked about that rather a lot on this show. I never liked the handling of that.
‘When he [Amorim] said in the beginning of the season that it was him or Bruno [Fernandes], I never agreed with that.
‘It killed Kobbie Mainoo. It killed him publicly. After which he never put him within the team in any respect, aside from against Grimsby within the cup.’
Carrick’s reliance on Mainoo got here as no surprise as he previously said the midfielder was the form of player United could ‘construct a team around’.
‘To have a talent like that, as he’s shown already, you’ve got to have players like that,’ Carrick said back in September.
”They get it, they comprehend it, let’s construct around them. There’s definitely a spot for him (Mainoo) there obviously.’
Mainoo is way from the one Manchester United player who has benefitted from Amorim’s departure, nevertheless.
Impressive wins over Man City and Arsenal has put the Red Devils back within the Champions League places ahead of Sunday’s home match against Fulham.
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