Ruben Amorim gets honest about Kobbie Mainoo as Man Utd star frustrated

Manchester United's young talent Kobbie Mainoo has been left in the lurch due to the club's lack of European football and a humiliating Carabao Cup exit, according to his manager Ruben Amorim. The 20-year-old midfielder, who broke into the first team in the 2023/24 season and earned an England call-up, has seen his progress stall last season and this term. Mainoo has yet to start a Premier League match this season and was left on the bench during United's recent clash with Nottingham Forest.

Despite showing promise in training, he has found himself sidelined, with Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro preferred in the starting line-up. The frustrated youngster was denied a loan move over the summer and has become somewhat redundant this season, with United playing just one game per week. Their early Carabao Cup exit at the hands of Grimsby Town has only exacerbated the situation.

Amorim admitted that while Mainoo's performances in training have been commendable, there simply isn't room for him in the current side.

"Every minute we are using to prepare the future with a lot of games and less training," Amorim told beIN Sports. "We are giving a lot of information, we are working on our fitness because we need to keep momentum during the week with good training, really intense."

"When you have more games you are just concerned about recovery. We suffered a lot from last season. People forget we played two and three days all of the time and that was really hard for us. But then you have the other side.

"I see Kobbie Mainoo training today, and he deserves to play, but then I have to take one guy [out] that's playing really well. We should have played in the Carabao Cup, because I need to see Kobbie Mainoo playing, I need to see Josh, all of these guys deserve to play, but in the end, it is one more game you need to make choices. So you have both sides."

Securing European qualification this season is crucial for Amorim's squad management plans. "We need to go to Europe because of everything," he said.

"Our club needs to be in Europe, it's hard to have a very, very good squad. Imagine for me to have Mainoo with that (many) minutes that he's playing, he needs more games for me to make a rotation because, with one game (a week), it's really hard.

"I have to take one of the guys that is playing to put another. When you have more games, you can divide, you can manage the group in a different way."