‘In very advanced talks’: Romano drops bombshell over ‘untouchable’ Man United star and Euro giants on Wednesday

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·5 February 2026

‘In very advanced talks’: Romano drops bombshell over ‘untouchable’ Man United star and Euro giants on Wednesday

Fabrizio Romano has revealed that right up until Ruben Amorim’s departure at Old Trafford, Kobbie Mainoo was set on a move to Napoli.

By the time INEOS decided to pull the plug on Amorim’s Manchester United tenure, Mainoo had not made a single start in the opening 20 Premier League matches.

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The fact that the side, under Amorim’s management, had failed to qualify for any European competition the season prior made the youngster’s situation even more frustrating to navigate, as he was having to wait essentially a full week between each brief cameo he was being granted.

INEOS sticking with Amorim could’ve led to them losing Mainoo

(Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

That is, of course, if the coach even decided to play him; Mainoo was an unused substitute on four occasions in the first half of the term, making it no surprise he was angling for a winter departure.

It took until Michael Carrick’s first match for the 20-year-old to make a starting XI, and he has since retained his place for the subsequent two fixtures. He has played the full 90 minutes in each, and all of them have been wins thus far.

For the clashes against Manchester City and Arsenal, Mainoo, who’s now said to be ‘untouchable’, covered the most distance of any player on the pitch across both teams.

He is also, unsurprisingly, flourishing while playing behind his skipper Bruno Fernandes, despite Amorim being insistent that the two could not play together.

Mainoo was in advanced negotiations with Napoli

(Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Now that the Carrington graduate is back enjoying his football, fans have been able to breathe a sigh of relief – even more so after Romano detailed just how close Mainoo came to signing for the reigning Serie A champions.

“I think at the end, Kobbie Mainoo was going to leave Manchester United if Ruben Amorim ended up staying at the club,” said Romano on the ‘Here We Go’ podcast.

“Napoli were in very advanced talks with Mainoo, but Napoli had some limitations with the market, and then Michael Carrick arrived and changed Mainoo’s future.”