West Ham are interested in signing Kobbie Mainoo on loan in the January transfer window as the midfielder continues to struggle for minutes at Manchester United.
Kobbie Mainoo is yet to start a game in the Premier League for Manchester United this season after 10 games.
The young midfielder has been in the lineup just once for United this term – in the Carabao Cup defeat to Grimsby Town, where he registered an assist for Bryan Mbeumo.
Ruben Amorim currently favours a midfield duo of Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes while Mainoo was an unused substitute in the latest game against Nottingham Forest.
Mainoo requested to be sent on loan in the summer transfer window but United wanted to keep the English talent at Old Trafford. Unless things change soon, it will be a topic that is revisited in January.
What Amorim said about Mainoo amid West Ham offer
The latest reports from Fabrizio Romano have suggested that Mainoo would still be open to leaving the Reds on loan in the January window but the final decision will come down to United.
West Ham are one of the clubs interested in taking the 20-year-old on a temporary basis and Romano claims that the Hammers are offering Mainoo a ‘guaranteed starting spot’ in their midfield.
Napoli are also keen on Mainoo as they are looking to bring in another midfielder, especially after the injury to Kevin De Bruyne occurred.
Amorim recently admitted that the amount of game-time Mainoo has received this season isn’t good enough for him and how it is mainly down to the lack of European football at Old Trafford.
“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.”
United still unlikely to sanction Mainoo loan
Although Amorim has claimed that Mainoo should be playing more games, it still feels unlikely that he will sanction a loan deal in January, mainly due to the AFCON absences.
Amad and Bryan Mbeumo will be heading off for the mid-season tournament and Amorim will need to use his squad during their absence.
Mainoo could reclaim a spot in the middle next to Casemiro while Fernandes moves further forward into the frontline.
United will also be wary of injuries, even though it seems like there are no problems at the moment. If a couple of players suffer lengthy setbacks then Mainoo will likely come in for regular football.
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