Who will take a chance on Kobbie Mainoo?

Plus Jackson to Bayern, Hincapie to Arsenal, Tottenham struggling for signings

Kobbie Mainoo has yet to play for Manchester United this season, and Ruben Amorim has made it clear that Bruno Fernandes’ shift into a deeper role has moved Mainoo farther down the pecking order. The 20-year-old’s contract expires in two years, and talks about a new one have gone nowhere. While United fans certainly don’t want to see good young players leave for cheap, the circumstances dictate that it’s time to sell.

Heading into the summer, Mainoo’s preference was to stay at United, but recent developments have clearly made him more open to an exit. Obviously a player who turned in solid performances at the European Championships as a teenager will attract some interest, with the Mail making the nearly impossible to verify claim that 10 clubs are interested.

But anyone who goes for Mainoo is taking a significant risk based on their assessment of his raw talent. He does not currently have the production to match the praise that’s been heaped on him, with Paul Scholes once famously exclaiming “he’s better than me.”

Perhaps he is in a training drill, but not on a Premier League pitch. Mainoo has shown no ability to progress the ball from deep while playing in a central midfield role, and nothing about his shot or assist production suggests he’d be better as a No. 10. He’s been decent defensively.

If Mainoo is going to leave United this summer, I think it’s going to be on a loan, rather than permanent sale. Perhaps it’ll be one with a buy option that turns into an obligation if he plays a certain number of minutes. But I can’t see United letting him go for less than £40m or so, and I can’t see anyone paying that price based on his current production.

United should prioritize finding Mainoo a good loan move to pump up his value for next summer, or get him ready to return to the first team under the next manager if Amorim doesn’t make it through the season.

More transfer rumours

  • Tottenham continue to struggle to close deals after losing Eberechi Eze to Arsenal. Their interest in Nico Paz was probably never going anywhere, with the player waiting for a potential return to Real Madrid. They’re still trying for Savinho, or could get Maghnes Akilouche for around £48m. In any event, this newsletter’s tagline is “we’ll tell you when your director of football should be fired,” and we might have something to say about that on September 2.

  • West Ham are close to signing Soungoutou Magassa from Monaco, and he’s a gamble worth taking. The young DM didn’t play a lot of minutes for Monaco last year, but he looked spectacular in the ons he did play.

  • Newcastle have had a £50m offer for Jorgen Strand Larson rejected, and Wolves have offered the striker a pay rise just a couple months after signing him permanently.

  • I’m not sure why Newcastle have not been terribly interested in Nicolas Jackson during this whole process, but he’s negotiating with Bayern Munich instead. If he goes, that should allow Chelsea to buy one of Xavi Simons or Alejandro Garnacho.

  • Victor Boniface failed his medical at Milan, causing that deal to collapse. The Rossoneri have now moved on to Conrad Harder of Sporting Lisbon, Viktor Gyökeres backup. Sporting won’t be thrilled to sell 2 strikers in one window, but they can hardly turn down €27m for a guy who barely played last season.

  • Arsenal are closing in on the signing of LCB/LB Piero Hincapie from Bayer Leverkusen, and he’ll probably end up costing somewhere in the £40-50m range, though negotiations are ongoing. His signing necessitates an outgoing, and Jakub Kiwior appears off to Porto.

  • Crystal Palace would like to sign Yeremi Pino from Villarreal, who’s going to cost them £40m+. He’s a bit more of a winger than Eze, but has some similarities in that he’s more of a half-space playmaker than dribbler. You can see it if you squint. I’m not sure if Pino has the production to justify this fee, but he’s a solid young player.

  • Dani Ceballos moving from Real Madrid to Marseille seems likely, though there’s no word yet on where Adrien Rabiot is heading.

  • Another well-liked Madridista, Lucas Vazquez, is heading to Bayer Leverkusen. Kind of a shame he’s doing that after they’ve abandoned the back 3 system.

  • After previously telling Dortmund to do one, Wolves have re-opened talks with them over striker Fabio Silva and he’ll likely move there for €25m. He saved his career with a decent loan to Las Palmas last year, but I’m not sure I’d pay a big fee for a guy who’s had one OK season ever.

  • And speaking of Porto wonderkids, Al-Ittihad are trying to sign 18-year-old Rodrigo Mora, who is going to cost them €70m. Call me old fashioned, but I don’t think promising teenagers should spend their careers in Saudi Arabia.

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