Kobbie Mainoo’s brother, Love Island star Jordan, was spotted inside Old Trafford wearing a shirt reading ‘Free Kobbie Mainoo’ during the Red Devils’ 4-4 draw with Bournemouth.
Mainoo has struggled for game time at United of late, with Ruben Amorim seemingly not his biggest fan and hitting back at critics who had slammed the midfielder’s lack of action.
Amorim has come under fire from Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt in recent days over his handling of Mainoo, who will again look to leave United on loan when the January transfer window opens.
The United boss insists the 20-year-old has not taken advantage of his opportunities, and issued a sobering assessment of the club’s other academy stars such as Toby Collyer, Chido Obi and Harry Amass.
On Monday, Mainoo came off the bench in the second half for United, but has not started a Premier League game this season and has seen just 212 minutes of action.
Mainoo-Hames, who was a contestant on the fifth series of the hit ITV show in 2019, was spotted inside Old Trafford on Monday wearing a black shirt calling for more game time for his brother in an apparent dig at the Portuguese.
Ferdinand, Scholes and Butt have claimed that Mainoo has to leave United for the good of his career after failing to make a Premier League start this season.
‘Sometimes they don’t have all the information and they see Manchester United with the standards that they lived here, always winning. So it’s hard for them to see their club in this situation,’ said Amorim ahead of Monday night’s clash with Bournemouth at Old Trafford.
‘I take that naturally. It’s a fact that me as a manager of Manchester United, I think we are underachieving. We should have more points, especially this season.
‘The problem is that me, as a manager, I’m not doing good enough and I can accept that. So that is the only problem. Not winning is the issue.
‘If I’m winning I can go to the games on a horse, arrive there, play with just two defenders and everything will be fine.
‘At Sporting (Lisbon) there was no issue because we were winning all the time. So I understand and that’s okay.’
Napoli were Mainoo’s preference when United rejected his request to go out on loan in the summer, and the Italians will be at the front of the queue again next month.
‘No, I didn’t speak with him, not about that,’ added Amorim. ‘I had some conversations with him, especially last year, and with other players, but not about that subject.
‘The team comes first and I will be really pleased if Kobbie comes to talk to me about that. I just want my players happy, and I understand that every individual has their goals.
‘The problem is that we are playing with two midfielders and you guys see Kobbie in a different way than I’m seeing him. Maybe if we play with three midfielders, Kobbie will have more minutes.’
United have a proud tradition of players graduating to the first team from their academy, but Amorim won’t be swayed by sentiment.
