Gary Neville has expressed concerns Kobbie Mainoo is now the fourth choice central midfield option at Man United, while admitting he believes the Red Devils still need to enter the transfer market to strengthen the position.
Mainoo, 20, was an unused substitute on Sunday as Man United were held to a 1-1 draw by Fulham at Craven Cottage.
The England international watched from the bench as Emile Smith Rowe drew Fulham level after Rodrigo Muniz’s own goal, with Amorim turning to defenders Harry Maguire and Ayden Heaven as he sought to push for a winner late on.
It marked the second successive match where the Man United academy product has been an unused substitute.
Former Man United defender Neville suggested the Amorim ‘isn’t having Mainoo’, while highlighting the centre of midfield as a problem position that may need to be resolved in the transfer market.
‘In central midfield, they have to do a piece of business now,’ he said on the Gary Neville podcast.
Gary Neville has expressed his concerns Kobbie Mainoo is now fourth choice for a central midfield role at Man United under Ruben Amorim
Mainoo was an unused substitute again as Man United drew 1-1 with Fulham on Sunday
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‘I would have liked to have thought that Mainoo could step up and be that person, but it is quite clear that at this moment in time Ruben Amorim isn’t having him.
‘He starts with Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes, he then puts Mason Mount back in there and he then brings Ugarte on in front of him.
‘That tells you he is almost fourth choice really.
That means they are going to have to get something sorted because it is going to be a problem.
‘The two in there really do get exposed when the front three are a little bit higher and the back five sometimes get pushed back a bit, those acres of space seem to open up a bit.
‘I think Bruno Fernandes is part of that in there and he is going to have to sort it out. I think Man United will have to get a goalkeeper and look at getting a central midfield player.’
Mainoo has started just 15 of Amorim’s 44 matches in charge to date, falling victim to the head coach’s preference of pairing an attacking midfielder alongside a defensive-minded partner in his system.
Amorim revealed post-match that Mainoo is in competition with Man United’s captain Fernandes for a place in the starting line-up.
Neville suggested that Ruben Amorim ‘isn’t having Mainoo’ at the moment, while suggesting Man United may need to enter the transfer market to bolster further in central midfield
‘Mainoo is fighting for his position with Bruno. I changed two midfielders. I left Mason Mount there because we wanted to score a goal and when I changed, I felt the team needed one holding midfielder,’ he said.
‘So he needs to fight for his position with Bruno. At the moment, he is fighting in training with Bruno for the position.’
Amorim started Fernandes alongside anchor Casemiro on Sunday, before replacing the latter with Manuel Ugarte. Mount was also dropped back into the deeper role.
Earlier in the summer, Neville had warned Man United against sanctioning the sale of Mainoo to boost the club’s PSR position.
Man United have invested heavily this summer with the £73million signing of forward Benjamin Sesko adding to Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo joining for £62.5m and £65m respectively.
The Red Devils are in talks over the £17million signing of Royal Antwerp goalkeeper Senne Lammens.
The club are keen to offload several players in the final days of the window, with Jadon Sancho, Antony, Tyrrell Malacia and Alejandro Garnacho remaining in their ‘bomb squad’.
Rasmus Hojlund has also been linked with a return to Italy after being left out of the matchday squad for the opening two Premier League matches of the season.
