Marcus Rashford and Kobbie Mainoo are at very different points with their Man Utd careers, but a lesson with the former applies to the latter.
While Marcus Rashford remains stuck in limbo over his future due to Barcelona pleading poverty in the face of an unmoved Man Utd, Kobbie Mainoo has a new lease of life at Old Trafford.
A new contract for Mainoo will see him tie his future to the club until 2031, while Rashford still doesn’t know where he will play his football next season.
Ineos have identified the problem they’re facing with selling Rashford, and they’ve made sure to correct their course with Mainoo.
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Ineos inherited Marcus Rashford’s wage problem from Glazers
Without letting Barcelona off the hook for trying to be cute with United and offering a loan extension for Rashford, Ineos will know this is a problem they inherited from the Glazers.
Rashford was rewarded with a contract worth about £300k/week after one good season under Erik ten Hag, when rumours about a PSG move “coincidentally” came to the fore.
Needless to say, the Glazer regime panicked, Rashford took them for a ride, and now they have a wasted asset bound to the books until 2028.
Rashford is fully within his rights to not take a pay cut, even though he has taken one for a loan move to Barcelona.
However, the reality is that if he were on palatable wages, which his talent warrants, United would have already sold him, and for a good fee too.
As it stands, his wages are a hands-off signal to any interested club, and it’s a problem passed down by the incompetent Glazer regime to Ineos.
Kobbie Mainoo extension proves course correction is underway
Ineos have handed out long-term contracts to two young players at Man Utd who were already in the senior team before they took part-ownership.
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Mainoo is the second, after Amad, and it’s encouraging to see the details surrounding his potential wage with the extension.
Despite being the first name on the teamsheet for a Champions League club (to-be), in a coveted position, and at 21, Mainoo is set to earn around £150k/week.
Contrast this with the contract the Glazers handed to Jadon Sancho when he signed from Dortmund, a deal that will end up expiring this summer after not being able to shift him.
Sancho got given north of £250k/week right away, which should have raised eyebrows.
It’s not an exaggeration to suggest that Mainoo would have received a similar contract under the Glazers. That wouldn’t have been Mainoo’s fault, and he might well have lived up to it as well.
However, the reality is that the wage structure at Old Trafford has been in dire need of realignment for a long time now.
Ineos’ problem with shifting Rashford is why that realigning is happening, and Mainoo is the personification of that course-correction.
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