Manchester United fans were rocked recently when it emerged that the club was open to listening offers for Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho.
Alejandro Garnacho was still slightly understandable due to the fact that he didn’t come through the academy and was brought from Atletico Madrid at 16.
However, reports of Kobbie Mainoo’s potential transfer were enough to sent shockwaves through the fanbase, with many treating it as the last straw of Ineos ownership if it happened.
Since then, Ruben Amorim cleared that Kobbie Mainoo is an important part of the squad and now, Ian Wright and Roy Keane have given their own take. It might be unpopular, especially in Mainoo’s case.
Roy Keane and Ian Wright on Man Utd-Kobbie Mainoo situation
The noise around Mainoo and Garnacho increased because as academy products, any fee for them counts as pure profit in the PSR books.
Furthermore, they are both on palatable wages and retain extremely high potential which would undoubtedly entice other teams to make an offer.
However, this phenomenon which has turned academy products into cash assets for clubs was flipped on its head by Keane, saying that just being an academy product shouldn’t make a player sale-proof.
Speaking on the Overlap, Keane put a simple point, saying, “Why shouldn’t you sell if you get a good offer? Man City or Liverpool sell academy players all the time.”
Wright added that the key point in all of this is what the manager thinks, which Keane agreed with.
Wright said: “Is Ruben Amorim happy with Mainoo, playing in that midfield role? It is up to the manager. If he thinks Mainoo doesn’t fit in how he wants to play then they will look to move him on, academy or not.”
Keane added that Mainoo has still got a lot to do to earn that status where he can’t be sold and being an academy player shouldn’t have anything to do with that.
Ruben Amorim has already given Mainoo verdict
Keane and Garnacho make an understandable point that being an academy player alone shouldn’t save you from ever being sold but Mainoo is so much more.
Even if he wasn’t an academy product, the sheer quality and potential he’s shown so far in his career should put him on the list of players who would be sold only if a silly offer arrives.
If that was the stance, then the news about the club “being open” to offers for him shouldn’t have ever become public, inviting more scrutiny needlessly.
To Wright’s point, Amorim has already said he rates Mainoo highly and is looking to improve him further, as evidenced by his first-choice status alongside Manuel Ugarte in the midfield.
That should settle the immediate future of the player, who is increasingly becoming a critical part of the team under the new manager.
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