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.”
