Ruben Amorim has claimed that \u00adKobbie Mainoo is \u201cthe future of \u00adManchester United\u201d and that the 20-year-old\u2019s versatility increases his chances of breaking into the team\u00a0soon.<\/p>\n
Mainoo has a calf problem that rules him out of Newcastle\u2019s visit to Old Trafford on Boxing Day but Amorim offered his firmest backing yet for a player he has not started in any of United\u2019s 17 Premier League matches.<\/p>\n
The head coach said: \u201cHe is going to be the future of Manchester United. That is my feeling. So you [Mainoo] just need to wait for each chance and everything can change in football in two days. He will have the opportunity that he has all the time to force his way in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amorim pointed to Mainoo\u2019s ability to play a variety of roles. \u201cThe position of Casemiro [No 6], he can do it. He can play if we play with three in midfield. He can play like we play in the position of Mason Mount [No 10].\u201d<\/p>\n
Amorim said this month he was open to a loan<\/a> for Mainoo, who the United hierarchy do not want to sell<\/a>, but has now indicated a move would be possible only if a replacement were signed. \u201cIf we are not getting someone, it is hard to leave,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n With the United captain, Bruno Fernandes, out for a prolonged period with an injury and Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo \u2013 two possible No 10s \u2013 at the Africa Cup of Nations, Mainoo may get more game time when fit.<\/p>\n Amorim has previously suggested he may change from his 3-4-3 system. The Portuguese expanded on why, saying: \u201cWe can play a different way to take more quality from these players because I have the feeling that if we have to play a perfect 3-4-3 we need to spend a lot of money and we need time. I\u2019m starting to understand that is not going to happen so maybe I have to adapt.\u201d<\/p>\n Casemiro and Harry Maguire are each in the final year of their contracts and Amorim was asked whether a decision has been made on either player. The Brazilian\u2019s deal has a one-year option but his weekly salary of around \u00a3365,000 makes him United\u2019s highest earner and means it is unlikely an extension will be triggered.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to understand what is going to happen in the next season \u2013 if there will be the European games,\u201d Amorim said. \u201cAt this moment, we are not thinking about that. I\u2019m really happy with them.\u201d<\/p>\n Amorim was glowing in his praise of Casemiro\u2019s work ethos. \u201cIf everyone trains like him, if everyone is so focused on the detail, even in training, in set pieces training, even when they are playing 10-versus-goalkeeper, and the movements that he made imagining the game, we will be a top team.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ruben Amorim has claimed that \u00adKobbie Mainoo is \u201cthe future of \u00adManchester United\u201d and that the 20-year-old\u2019s versatility…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":211044,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-211043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211043\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/211044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}