Every signing Manchester United have made this summer has lengthened the queue in front of Kobbie Mainoo. Andrey Santos arrived from Chelsea on 13 July. Youri Tielemans followed from Aston Villa 24 hours later. Cristian Orozco joined from Fortaleza on 7 August. For a homegrown midfielder who was playing in an FA Cup final as a teenager, that is a lot of traffic coming the other way.
Which is why what Michael Carrick has been saying this week matters. With Saturday’s friendly against Milan the last rehearsal before United open at Hull City on 22 August, the head coach has been asked repeatedly about the shape of his squad — and Mainoo keeps coming up.
What Carrick has said about Kobbie Mainoo
Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester on Thursday, Carrick covered Marcus Rashford, the summer window and Mainoo in the same sitting, and delivered a blunt verdict on the club’s recruitment: United have “done really good business”. That is not the language of a manager who thinks his midfield is short of options.
Separately, the Manchester Evening News has detailed a conversation between the pair dating back to what the paper frames as Mainoo’s “World Cup nightmare”. Treat that account with some caution — the club has not confirmed it — but Carrick has clearly gone out of his way to talk his young midfielder up rather than quietly move him on.
The midfield queue at Old Trafford
Look at the senior options and the problem is obvious. Bruno Fernandes remains captain and the first name on the team sheet. Manuel Ugarte is the incumbent holding player. Mason Mount is another established choice. Then come the new arrivals: Santos, Tielemans and Orozco. United did not disclose the fees for the first two, but they were widely reported at around £48m and £35m respectively — comfortably north of £80m between them.
Tielemans also inherited the No. 18 shirt vacated when Casemiro was released at the end of June, before joining Inter Miami in July. That is how quickly the middle of the park has been rebuilt around Mainoo’s No. 37.
And Carrick is not done. As the Guardian reported on Thursday, the head coach still wants further additions before the window closes on 1 September. If he gets them, the competition only sharpens.
Why the next fortnight is the Kobbie Mainoo test
Milan on Saturday is the final audition. United finished third last season and return to the Champions League for the first time since 2023-24, with the league-phase draw on 27 August adding eight more fixtures to the calendar — on top of a Premier League season and two domestic cups the Red Devils enter at the third round.
Eight extra European nights is a lot of football for one midfield to cover, and that is the case for patience: for Mainoo starting at Hull on 22 August rather than watching from the bench. A crowded squad is a good problem for a club chasing a title. It is a far less comfortable one for a 21-year-old who has already shown he belongs. Keep across all the latest Manchester United news as the window runs down.
