Manchester United star Kobbie Mainoo is yet to play a single minute this season and the midfielder is now open to leaving Old Trafford before the transfer window slams shut
A Manchester United star who has been compared to Zinedine Zidane is reportedly considering leaving the club this summer after being left on their bench for the first two games of the new season.
Kobbie Mainoo was an unused substitute for United's 1-0 defeat to Arsenal and 1-1 draw with Fulham, with Ruben Amorim preferring Bruno Fernandes, Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte ahead of him.
As a result, talkSPORT are now reporting that the 20-year-old is open to leaving United in the final week of the transfer window. Mainoo has yet to agree a new deal with the club and his current contract is due to expire in 2027.
United legend Paul Scholes has previously likened Mainoo to Zidane, telling the Guardian last year: "He's the nearest thing I've seen to Zidane in taking a ball, receiving the ball, cruising past people.
"I heard there was a young lad holding his own against Casemiro in training, sometimes better than him. But you have to go out and do it. The first time I saw him I remember that calmness. The way he received the ball with confidence; I just couldn't believe such a young player could do that.
"That calmness didn't come for me as quick as it did for Kobbie. I'd say it came five or six years into my career. That's why it amazes me. He's so relaxed, the game's so easy to him. It's almost like poetry in motion.
"That calmness will be vital throughout his career. It's [something] just in you. The sky's the limit for this lad if he keeps his head down. And he looks like the type who will stay on an even keel."
Amorim was quizzed about Mainoo after the Fulham game and warned the England international that he is competing for a place in the team with club captain Fernandes. "He's fighting for the position now with Bruno and I change two midfielders," Amorim said.
"I let Mason Mount [play] there because we want to score a goal and when I changed I felt the team need to return to one holding midfielder near Bruno.
"So he just needs to fight for the position with Bruno, as [it] should be at Manchester United. [Sometimes] he's going to play with Bruno, but at the moment he's fighting in training with Bruno for the position."