“I rather sell the entire club than letting him leave…He’s not for sale”: Man United’s owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has ruled out January exit for the club’s most important player
Yes, the overused phrase of the decade. But maybe that’s what we should all be saying amid the suggestion that United are open to selling their homegrown teenage talent, Kobbie Mainoo.
It’s been claimed that after the 19-year-old England international was deemed one of three ‘un-sellable’ players in the summer transfer window, the bigwigs at Old Trafford will listen to offers for him alongside team-mates Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Hojlund. Mainoo made his senior debut in January 2023, one month before signing a four-and-a-half-year contract which includes the option to remain at his boyhood club until 2028.
Now there’s a more lucrative deal on the table, but it’s reportedly left Mainoo unhappy. There are suggestions that the Stockport sensation has demanded a massive £200,000 per week, a wage which would put him in the same ball park of Harry Maguire, Matthijs de Ligt and £82million flop Antony.
Of course, we can debate whether Mainoo is deserving of such money after just two years in the first-team, but selling him, really?
Sir Jim Ratcliffe didn’t exactly have bags of goodwill when he walked through the door at Old Trafford, having struck a deal with the Glazers, but any backing he’s had from the majority of supporters, particular match-going fans, has been eroded. £66 tickets, no concessions, cancelling the office Christmas party and many more ruthless cuts behind the scenes have led to backlash towards the Failsworth-born billionaire – with the Glazers still lurking in the shadows, obviously.
Selling Mainoo, a local, gifted footballer picked up at the age of nine, would go against United’s very foundation. Don’t forget, this time last year there was feverish clamour to get him into the England squad, and he ended up starting the final of Euro 2024 after Gareth Southgate, supposedly someone who didn’t give new players a chance in his final two tournaments, recognised his talents.
That last-minute strike against Wolves, his goal in the FA Cup final, even that performance on Sunday at Anfield are all a glimmer and what’s to come. At 19, Mainoo could well define United’s midfield for the next two decades. But if Ratcliffe and Co. are seriously willing to let clubs have a sniff, he’ll end up at the heart of someone else’s team.
Take Cole Palmer, we collectively baulked at the £42.5million transfer fee that Chelsea paid Manchester City to sign him in 2023. Now look where we are. He’s arguably the best player in the Premier League behind Mo Salah, all while City have stumbled into crisis.
Even with far less evidence, Chelsea knew Palmer’s potential and it’s no surprise to see them sniffing around Mainoo. With United in desperate need of cash to fund Ruben Amorim’s rebuild, how much is too much for the Red Devils to turn down?
City have always seen Mainoo as the one that got away, so could Pep Guardiola try to entice him to the Etihad? Imagine the fury at watching him link-up with fellow Stopfordian Phil Foden.
Mainoo, in all fairness, hasn’t been at his best this season – looking leggy and overworked after his rapid rise to fame – but unlike in the case of another academy graduate, Marcus Rashford, fans would feel like they’re being robbed of his most exciting years.
Players like Mainoo walking out at Old Trafford aren’t just of benefit to the first-team, they fill the entire club with a huge sense of accomplishment. Think of how many coaches, cooks and cleaners have gone into giving him the platform to wear the famous United badge.
His sale in order to balance books might make cold, hard business sense, but the anger around the already crumbling Old Trafford would be next-level. Of course, the player would could put his foot down and remain on his current terms, but he, rightly, believes that he’s worth more than his current salary which is rumoured to be a modest £20,000-a-week.
For the sake of Ratcliffe’s already-tainted legacy at United, he simply can’t sell Mainoo.
