Kobbie Mainoo’s deal ties him to Man United until 2031. His development will define their midfield rebuild

Kobbie Mainoo was once dubbed the future of Manchester United by Ruben Amorim. Twelve matches under Michael Carrick have confirmed he is the present as well.

It’s been quite the season for the academy graduate, who only turned 21 this April. Mainoo largely had to make do with a substitute role and limited minutes under Amorim in the first half of this campaign, with the head coach favouring a midfield partnership of Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro to power his bespoke 3-4-3.

Carrick’s arrival in mid-January, however, brought a change to a 4-2-3-1 formation, where Mainoo joined the pair to form a potential midfield engine room. Casemiro battles. Fernandes creates. Mainoo connects. Together, the trio have helped take United from possible Europa League contenders to near-guaranteed Champions League qualifiers.

As the club prepares for a busy summer of player trading and midfield upheaval, Mainoo has done his best to put his best foot forward and confirm himself as a mainstay in the United midfield. His new contract, which will run until 2031, means whichever player(s) United decide upon to replace Casemiro this summer need to have a complementary skill set to Mainoo.

Thankfully for those in the recruitment team, Mainoo’s play has been steadily improving throughout his time working under Carrick. This month has seen a gear shift in the talented midfielder’s play, prompting several figures to praise his talents. He was a foundational piece of United’s 1-0 victory over Chelsea on April 18, before having another excellent game nine days later against Brentford.

“I think he’s showing a little bit of everything of what he can do,” said Carrick following United’s 2-1 win on Monday. “I think his build-up play, his taking the ball, his creation. (The manner in which he is) starting the attacks… he’s so effective with that. But also his duel one-v-ones, recovery runs, back-tackling.

“I think over the last two games he’s taken that up a level. So it’s great to see that he can do it, and we try to give him more responsibility as the games go on”

The things Mainoo can do stand in contrast with many a Premier League midfielder of his age group. Under Carrick, Mainoo has served as a box-to-box midfielder, with the head coach making use of his excellent press-resistance to carry the ball between the penalty areas and help regulate the pace of matches.

The last two matches have seen Carrick ask Mainoo to be United’s first point of contact when they look to build out from the back. The 21-year-old Mainoo is increasingly dropping from central midfield and into the back four to collect the ball from Senne Lammens before looking to make the next pass.

Carrick favours Mainoo in these situations due to his level of technical control and spatial awareness. He is a clever player when given the ball in tight situations and doesn’t get too flustered if opposing teams send one (or two) players to close him down.

Mainoo has the football skills to play his way through an opposition block, but also the football intelligence to know when a short, sideways pass around it becomes the most sensible option. His comfort in deeper areas, in turn, frees up Casemiro and Fernandes to operate in more advanced areas ahead of him.

Mainoo’s new contract at United is not simply a reward for sideways and backwards passes. Performances against Chelsea and Brentford are noteworthy because of the increased responsibility he’s taking on within games. Mainoo has grown more decisive; there has been an improvement in his defensive positioning, leading to an increase in successful tackles and interceptions.

He’s taking more proactive positions during defensive phases, allowing him to better shield his back four and block off passing lanes for opponents.

Such was his defensive display against Brentford on Monday, that a compilation reel was shared by the Premier League’s official social media accounts. The midfielder has become a keen and careful protector of the ball. More of his attempts to retrieve possession are proving successful, allowing United to better turn defence into attack at a moment’s notice.

Another significant aspect of Mainoo’s play comes in where he opts to play the first pass after recovering possession.

Mainoo’s previous inclination has often been to play a short pass sideways to retain possession, but against Chelsea, there were multiple moments where he looked to get the ball forward, particularly after winning it in wider areas.

He’s more assured when carrying the ball into the final third as well. Mainoo nearly registered one of the assists of the season against Brentford, dribbling past three players before Amad Diallo for a shot on goal. The winger’s effort was unfortunately blocked off the goal line by Sepp van den Berg, but there are moments within that speak to Mainoo’s fast-flourishing qualities.

He uses a strong right arm to dismiss Mikkel Damsgaard when he begins his run.

There’s a quick shift of feet to chop inside Nathan Collins and leave the Brentford centre-back scrambling…

Before a brilliant chop with his back (right) foot to take Yehor Yarmolyuk out of the game.

The run again displays Mainoo’s other remarkable trait. He has the rare ability to stay cool and slow down when presented with a goalscoring chance, when many other players of his age may have a rush of blood to the head and potentially rush a shot. Look how close Caoimhin Kelleher is to Mainoo before the midfielder decides to roll the ball to Amad. He’s able to find an extra second to calculate what the best goalscoring opportunity was for his team, and was willing to pass up a good 50-50 chance for himself to create a better opening for a teammate.

Mainoo’s physical development since his November 2023 performance against Everton, which was his first Premier League start, has been remarkable.

Back then, he was thought to be around 5ft 9in (1.75m) in height and spent some matches across the 2023-24 season being bullied off the ball by more physical opponents. Now, Mainoo stands a little taller than 6ft 1in (1.85m) and has grown better at using his upper body to knock opposition players off balance and better shield the ball.

Skill is nothing without the courage to push its limits, and Mainoo looks to have taken on certain aspects of play from both Fernandes and Casemiro.

His approach to slide tackles appears to have been refined through working alongside the Brazilian, with Mainoo developing a distinctive hooked technique with his right leg.

There was an intelligence, intuition, and persistence in Mainoo’s performances against Chelsea and Brentford that Carrick and his coaching staff will hope to make the new baseline for his career going forward.

Should Mainoo maintain these levels, it will go a long way to helping United finish confidently within the Champions League places for next season. It will also recalibrate the sort of player that United’s recruitment team will hope to acquire next season to play in defensive midfield. If Mainoo can continue his improvements with defensive positioning and progressive passing, that will reduce some of the responsibilities needed from any future signing to replace Casemiro.

Thomas Tuchel has given us a glimpse of how Mainoo might pair with Elliot Anderson, but if the Nottingham Forest man cannot be signed, then United will have to explore other options. An improved Mainoo expands United’s prospective shopping list, making it easier to squad build and future-proof this side.

Mainoo’s new contract means he will be the future of Manchester United. Now comes the hard part, where player and club begin to shape what that future will look like.