Man Utd: Romano reveals fresh Mainoo transfer update as Amorim tells him to ‘fight for his job’ | OneFootball

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano insists that “more than ten” clubs are looking to sign Man Utd midfielder Kobbie Mainoo in the January transfer window.

The Red Devils looking to sign a new midfielder in the January transfer window, which could knock Mainoo even further down the pecking order.

Amorim, much to the annoyance of the Man Utd board, publicly declared that Mainoo would be serving as a back-up option to captain Bruno Fernandes this season.

That saw Mainoo seek a loan move away from Old Trafford before the end of the summer transfer window before being talked into staying by Man Utd director of football Jason Wilcox.

After making no Premier League starts so far this season and 11 substitute appearances, Mainoo is once again looking to leave Man Utd on loan in the winter market.

Mainoo’s brother came to their 4-4 draw against Bournemouth last weekend with a ‘Free Kobbie Mainoo’ t-shirt on but Man Utd boss Ruben Amorim doesn’t hold that against the player himself.

Amorim just wants the Man Utd midfielder to kick on, he said: “He’s a shy boy, but it’s not his responsibility. He’s responsible for his acts and his act was to play well in the last game, so I’m just focused on that.

“I had the situation in Sporting (Lisbon) that my brother wrote something in the internet and I have to answer for that.

“My explanation is, ‘He has his life, he has his opinion, it’s nothing to do with me’, so I will do the same with Kobbie.

“Kobbie needs to fight for his job. I think that it’s not a bad thing to be on the bench of Manchester United when you are 20 years old.

“I remember (Cristiano) Ronaldo was on the bench, (Wayne) Rooney was on the bench sometimes. (Juan Sebastian) Veron was not playing.

“I remember all the history of Manchester United and (there is) nobody this didn’t fall (to), so let’s continue in trying to avoid the nonsense and the noise.

“Believe it or not, I just want to want to help the team to win and help Kobbie to be a better player.”

And now Romano has revealed that there are more than ten clubs looking to sign Mainoo with the England international seeking a way out of Old Trafford on loan before the 2026 World Cup.

Romano said on his YouTube channel: “Ruben Amorim made clear that the shirt, ‘Free Kobbie Mainoo,’ that the brother of Mainoo, Jordan, was wearing, he didn’t see that, but he also said, I’m not going to sanction or punish Mainoo because of a shirt he was not even wearing, it was someone else from his family.

“It’s not that Kobbie is going to play because of that, or he’s not going to play because of that, so no consequences. What I can tell you is that Mainoo, in his mind, still has this desire to play more, still has this intention to go on loan, still has this plan to go play, develop, grow and then return to Man Utd.

“It’s an opportunity for Man Utd to have a better player in the near future. It’s an opportunity for the player to have a chance to go to the World Cup 2026 with England. So far, he has started zero games in the Premier League, and Kobbie doesn’t want to be in this situation also for the second half of the season.

“We will see how the conversations will go because this story is up to Man Utd. From Napoli, they are really hoping for a solution. Napoli want Mainoo. It’s more than 10 clubs, but Napoli, after [Scott] McTominay, after Rasmus Hojlund – they are both doing very good there – hope that they can have the opportunity to get also Mainoo from Man Utd.

“But this will be up to Man Utd and Amorim. So, Mainooo is waiting. Napoli are waiting. They are waiting to see what Man Utd will do. At the moment, still no sort of green light.”