Manchester United have sorely missed midfield magician Kobbie Mainoo with the England international missing the last eight games through injury.
A lot has happened in the interim, with Erik ten Hag sacked while Ruud van Nistelrooy also left despite an impressive interim tenure.
Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte have emerged as the go-to midfield partnership but new head coach Ruben Amorim is expected to adopt a whole-new approach and he wants players with intensity.
Both the Brazilian and Christian Eriksen do not have the legs anymore to play in Amorim’s system and Mainoo’s return is highly-anticipated.
Mainoo back in training
Van Nistelrooy, during his temporary stint, had mentioned that the 19-year-old was close to a return and the latest training update from The Manchester Evening News revealed that he is back in training.
The United academy graduate was a part of the ex-Sporting Lisbon boss’ first training session on Monday and hopefully, he can at least be a part of the matchday squad for the weekend game against Ipswich Town.
🚨🔴 Rúben Amorim has involved 16 year old defender Godwill Kukonki as part of his first training session at Man United today.
Kukonki was there and Kobbie Mainoo also took part to the session, as @StevenRailston reports. pic.twitter.com/lje1XuIrjn
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) November 18, 2024
“Manchester United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo has taken part in Ruben Amorim’s first training session on Monday,” the publication revealed.
The Portuguese tactician was seen chatting with the United academy graduate on his first visit to Carrington with the midfielder doing his rehab work.
United need to be careful with his game time
Mainoo’s last appearance came in the Premier League game against Aston Villa back on October 6. And United should be careful handling his gametime.
Ten Hag hardly rotated the squad and the England international was heavily used last term and sometimes it looked like he was close to burnout.
In fact, the Stockport-born star has started every Premier League game for the club until his October injury. Add to this his England exploits and it is clear to see that the youngster needs to be utilised a lot better.
Hopefully, the Red Devils will learn from their mistakes and Amorim will handle him with more care moving forwards.
Ayantan Chowdhury
Ayantan has worked for 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites but his heart was always set on writing about his favourite club. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25
