Kobbie Mainoo has not asked Manchester United for £180k a week and wants to stay at Old Trafford, but the decision may be taken out of his hands.

Mainoo – who’s currently out of action with a muscle injury – is in talks with boyhood club over a new contract with his current deal earning him just £20,000 a week, a rate of pay he quite reasonably believes doesn’t reflect his contributions to the club.

A report earlier this week claimed United ‘have held fresh talks’ with Mainoo ‘in the hope of finally reaching an agreement in prolonged contract negotiations’, but the academy graduate’s wage demands are a sticking point.

It’s claimed  ‘Mainoo’s representatives want a pay rise to £180,000 a week plus bonuses which would bring him in line with his team-mates and reflect his status as an England regular’.

But transfer journalist Alex Crook claims the midfielder doesn’t expect such a significant increase and also rubbished suggestions he’s looking for a move away from the club after interest from Chelsea in January.

“There were some stories doing the rounds that Mainoo is not happy with the financial package on offer to try and persuade him to sign a new deal at Manchester United,” Crook said on talkSPORT.

“I’m told some of the figures being banded around in terms of his demands, maybe are a little excessive €180k a week was quoted. I think it’s nearer £150k a week, but again, this is a sign that Manchester United are trying to trim the wage bill. We know when Amad Diallo signed his new deal, it was only, and I say only in inverted commas, 100 grand a week, but that is obviously a lot less than United have historically paid.

“Mainoo is an academy product, someone who loves the football club. He wants to stay at Manchester United, but it’s just a case of coming to an agreement on the terms, and obviously there is also this PSR issue that United may have to tackle this summer.”

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TEAMtalk claim ‘United could yet consider his sale this summer if a bumper offer comes their way and with the club reluctantly forced to get creative to try and find the funds to help Amorim with a major squad rebuild’, although his sale ‘would be classed as a hugely reluctant one’.

Crook backed up those claims and believes the temptation of pure profit for United is where the PSR system fails.

He added: “If Man Utd were to sell Mainoo we know Chelsea would be interested. United would make a hundred percent profit, and again for me, this is where the PSR system falls down.

“I don’t think clubs should be encouraged to cash in on the players who come through their academy. These are the players that as football fans, we want to see flourish in the first team.”

Before Manchester United face Real Sociedad, recall when David Moyes took his Red Devils to San Sebastian in 2013…

The Moyes era was in its infancy – did it ever reach the next phase? – when United went to Spain to face Real Sociedad in the Champions League.

Barely six months after Sir Alex Ferguson had retired, it was a small glimpse of the type of shambles to come.

United drew 0-0 but Robin van Persie – a second-half substitute – missed a penalty and the Red Devils had a man sent off.

Can you recall Moyes’ boys? You’ve got 365 seconds…

If you enjoyed that and need more reasons to dodge work, we’ve got plenty more quizzes here. And our friends at Planet Football have even more. We’ll have another new head-f*** for you tomorrow.

In the meantime, make sure you don’t miss these…

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Gary Neville has made a shock prediction for Manchester United’s clash with Arsenal on Sunday, while the Red Devils fans have been told the Glazers “have a right to run the club any way they want”.

The Glazers have been fiercely criticised by United fans over the years, with the sale of 27 per cent of their shares to Sir Jim Ratcliffe last year taking the focus off them somewhat.

But the cost-cutting strategies of the new head of football operations and his Ineos team has highlighted the degree to which the club has been mismanaged by the Glazers.

READ MORE: Ranking Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s 17 Man Utd f***-ups: 3) Ruben Amorim, 4) Dan Ashworth, 8) Kath Phipps

Supporters group The 1958 are planning a protest ahead of the Arsenal game against the American family for leading to the club to the brink of ‘financial Armageddon’.

The group are urging fans to wear black to symbolise their club ‘slowly dying’ and join the protest which will begin at the Tollgate pub at 3pm and move down Talbot Road, Warwick Road and Sir Matt Busby Way before pausing at the Trinity statue and continuing down the Munich Tunnel.

The movement coms with the club in 14th in the Premier League and on course for their worst season in the Premier League era.

And yet, amid the fan fury, former goalkeeper Tim Howard has defended his compatriots, insisting the criticism of the Glazers has been “one-sided”.

“I think they’ve spent money for Man United in certain places, and ultimately the criticism of ownership from fans at any club, but at Manchester United it’s oftentimes one-sided,” the former USMNT goalkeeper said.

“The Glazers own the football club, and that in turn is a business. And what I’ve always said, because I am an owner, when you spend your billions to own a business, you have the right to run it in any way you want.

“Now, that will ultimately prove good or bad business for sure, but you have the right to run it the way you want, and along with that comes criticism but everybody understands that. I think they have spent, and you can take it a step further and look at other clubs.

“Everton are a mess, and not because they haven’t spent, but because they spent a lot of money. In fact, so much so that they got docked points because of PSR so I think the Glazers are spending money.

“When you look at the squad and the amount of money that was paid for the likes of [Jadon] Sancho and [Cristiano] Ronaldo, all these players, money was spent. Was it spent wisely? I’m not sure the Glazers make those decisions, so there’s other parts of that question that need to be answered.”

MORE MAN UTD COVERAGE ON F365…
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👉 Amorim ‘tells friends’ he ‘made a mistake taking Man Utd job’ and is ‘shocked by how bad the players are’

Meanwhile, Neville – a fierce critic of the Glazers in the past – has made a shock prediction for United’s clash against second-placed Arsenal on Sunday, after the Gunners just hammered PSV Eindhoven 2-0 in the Champions League.

“United are playing so poorly at the moment, but they do sometimes lift their game against big opponents,” said Neville on the It’s Called Soccer podcast.

“And I feel on Sunday, the crowd will be there with them. And I think it will be 1-1 – scorer for United will be Bruno Fernandes.”