Bruno Fernandes’s injury has all but killed off Kobbie Mainoo’s hopes of leaving Manchester United on loan and rebuilding his stagnating career next month.
Mainoo had been keen to explore the option of moving to a new club after apparently failing to win over the United head coach, Ruben Amorim, and prove he is worthy of a starting role in the team.
The 20-year-old academy product has not started a single Premier League game this season and has played a total of only 221 minutes in the top flight. He had been a target for a number of clubs, including the Italian side Napoli, in the summer but opted to stay with United to try to win over Amorim.
Fernandes was injured in Sunday’s defeat by Villa and the United captain is set for his longest spell out of the team, having missed only three league games through injury or illness since joining the club in 2020
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That has not happened, but Fernandes’s “soft tissue” injury, sustained in Sunday’s defeat by Aston Villa, now appears to have ended any chance Mainoo had of a move away.
United have yet to announce how long their captain will be out for, although it has been talked about in terms of “weeks”. That seems certain to rule Fernandes out of the holiday programme and even leave him battling to return in time for the home derby meeting with Manchester City on January 17.
Amorim has always said he views Mainoo as a “like-for-like” alternative to Fernandes, and not suited to play the more defensive midfield role that Casemiro, who is two months short of his 34th birthday, has made his own.
Mainoo’s half-brother, Jordan Mainoo-Hames, wore a “free Kobbie Mainoo” T-shirt at United’s match against Bournemouth last week
Mainoo has also picked up a minor injury. He missed the Villa game with a calf problem that reports suggest will keep him out for up to ten days, seemingly ruling him out of the Boxing Day match at home to Newcastle United.
It all adds up to a case of unfortunate timing for all parties, especially as Fernandes had previously boasted an extraordinary fitness record, having missed only three league games through injury or illness since joining United in 2020, and averaged 53 games a season in that time.
Another issue that will dent Mainoo’s hopes of a move away is the sheer lack of numbers at United’s disposal over the coming weeks, with Noussair Mazraoui, Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo all at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Amorim has insisted that United will not be making short-term, panic moves in the January window, just to solve temporary problems, focusing instead on the summer to address long-term issues such as a lack of central midfielders — which spells further bad news for Mainoo, who only 17 months ago was starting in the Euro 2024 final for England.
“The only thing we know is that we only would try to bring players that we think is going to be the future,” Amorim said. “It’s not going to be to save something in this moment, to cope with the losses of three players for Afcon.
“We will try to bring, at the end of the season, players that are perfect for our future. I don’t know what is going to happen, but it’s possible that we can do something [next month].”
In the meantime, Amorim must decide who takes on the Fernandes role, as the attacking central midfielder, against Newcastle, with Mason Mount one option to partner Casemiro, who will return from the one-match suspension he served against Villa.