Aurelien Tchouameni appears to be front and centre of Manchester United’s current midfield transfer plans. The perfect partner for Kobbie Mainoo, but it will force the 21-year-old to evolve his game.
No matter what happened during Manchester United’s midfield rebuild this summer, Kobbie Mainoo is going to remain vital next season.
Mainoo is better than many of United’s targets, meaning Ineos needed to sign him the perfect partner, which Aurelien Tchouameni would be.
United are in conversations for Tchouameni, with a trip to Spain already being reported by reliable Spanish outlets. Signing Tchouameni would be a dream for United, one of the best number sixes in world football.
But this partnership would leave Mainoo needing to evolve his game in one aspect.
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Kobbie Mainoo needs to improve as a forward passer if paired with Aurelien Tchouameni
Despite missing out on both Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali, United fans remain confident. This is because United are seriously looking at Tchouameni, which would be a better signing than the other two for a similar price.
Tchouameni also happens to be the perfect player to pair with Mainoo.
The French midfielder ticks every box United need in a partner for Mainoo. He is an elite duel winner, tackler, ground coverer, and ball winner.
It would be a big change from Mainoo having to cover for Casemiro, and allows United’s academy graduates to play to his strengths, but it will mean they have to improve as a forward passer.
Many expect that Mainoo will be a much better player with the replacement of Casemiro, and if paired with Tchouameni, it will be his forward passing that needs to improve.
When looking at Squawka’s statistics of Tchouameni and Mainoo compared with each other.
In particular, Mainoo’s lack of forward passing stands out.
Mainoo completed more backward passes (183) than Tchouameni (181) last season, despite playing 1,000 fewer minutes, which isn’t good enough for a player who has the ability to pick out quality progressive passes. He only completed 248 forward passes, which needs to happen far more frequently next season, with Tchouameni not the most exciting passer.
Tchouameni would almost certainly be the more reserved midfielder of the two, with Mainoo therefore set to be demanded more of on the ball, almost playing the Casemiro role of last season, without the liability aspect, which threw off the whole balance of the team.
Mainoo was doing what he had to last season, covering for Casemiro’s clear weaknesses, which compromised basically the entire team, but he won’t have to do this next season.
So it is time for Mainoo to step up and take his game to that next level with more creativity, switches and making things happen from deep. Mainoo does do this, but next season it will need to be every game, multiple times.
Data MB show that Mainoo is the eighth-best forward passer in the league, behind another United target in Andrey Santos, but he has the ability to be doing much more.
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Mainoo could also learn a lot from Tchouameni
While Tchouameni’s partnership is perfect for Mainoo, it will also benefit him in that he will learn a lot from the experienced French midfielder.
Tchouameni is one of the best sixes in world football, both on and off the ball, which will be excellent for the development of Mainoo, who will be applying the lessons he learned from Casemiro over the past few years.
At 21, Mainoo has a lot of development to do over the next 18 months, and having a player like Tchouameni, who has shared the midfield with Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, and others, will be perfect for moulding the player Mainoo becomes.
But even as he is, Mainoo could be set for a campaign in which he could take things up a level.
Mainoo was unstoppable under Michael Carrick from January onwards, and next season, with a proper midfield partner and depth, these performances should be even better.
2026/27 is Mainoo’s season, and United’s plans suit him perfectly.
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