Gary Neville believes Kobbie Mainoo could take inspiration from Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho and make his way towards the exit door at Manchester United this summer.
Mainoo is taken into account probably the most talented young players to emerge from United’s academy in recent memory, but speculation is mounting that the midfielder may perhaps have played his final game for the club.
Across United’s worst-ever season within the Premier League last term, Mainoo managed a complete of just 19 starts. And two matches into this campaign, the 20-year-old remains to be yet to play a single minute under Ruben Amorim.
While Mainoo was given the nod within the Carabao Cup on Wednesday, it proved an evening to forget for the teen as United were dumped out the competition by League Two outfit Grimsby Town.
It’s understood Mainoo is now strongly considering his future at Old Trafford and the England international could possibly be prepared to go away should the Red Devils receive a ‘suitable’ offer for his services before the transfer deadline.
Your ultimate guide to the football season
Metro’s football newsletter: In The Mixer. Exclusive evaluation, FPL suggestions and transfer talk sent straight to your inbox every Friday – enroll, it’s an open goal.
As many as ten clubs are believed to be keeping tabs on Mainoo’s situation and United would reportedly be able to do business for a fee within the region of £45million.
‘Kobbie Mainoo can’t leave. They haven’t got any midfielders! They will’t let him go,’ an exasperated Neville said on the most recent episode of The Overlap.
‘In the event that they’re letting him go, they should bring someone in. They will’t let him go! They’ve got Casemiro, [Manuel] Ugarte and [Bruno] Fernandes.
‘I don’t think the manager is half-having him, I don’t think he’s having him.
‘He’ll be friends with Garnacho, I believe, and he’ll be friends with Marcus and I believe he’s the WhatsApp with those two and he’s pondering, “I’mbeing omitted here”, and he is perhaps it and going, “I’m going to get out!”
‘There can be a number of takers for him.’
Rashford, 27, accomplished a season-long loan move to the Camp Nou earlier this summer and has gone on to feature in each of Barcelona’s opening La Liga matches against Mallorca and Levante.
Though Garnacho stays a United player in the meanwhile, the 21-year-old Argentina winger is rumoured to be closing in on a switch to Premier League rivals Chelsea.
The Red Devils had initially been demanding a fee of £50m for Garnacho, but it surely’s believed Chelsea’s deal for the forward is prone to be value between £35m and £40m.
‘You possibly can understand and you possibly can see he’s a very talented boy, and sometimes things don’t work out,’ Amorim said of Garnacho during United’s pre-season tour of the USA.
‘You can’t explain specifically what it’s. But I actually have the sensation, I feel it’s clear that Garnacho wants a special thing with a special leadership, and I can understand that. So I feel it’s not an issue.
‘Sometimes you adapt to 1 guy, you have got the connection. Other times, you would like a brand new challenge.
We attempt to make all the pieces OK to all of the parts… to the club, to the coach and to the players. It’s a natural thing in football.’
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the most recent news on
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
MORE: Contained in the Premier League’s record-breaking transfer window – who has done the perfect business?
MORE: Three things Ruben Amorim can do to avoid cementing status as worst-ever Man Utd manager
MORE: Next Man Utd manager odds revealed after latest humiliation for Ruben Amorim