Manchester United face a ‘dilemma’ over the future of Kobbie Mainoo amid interest from Tottenham amid claims the midfielder’s agent is ‘not asking for too much money’.
Mainoo has been heavily linked with the Old Trafford exit for the last year, with Chelsea approaching the Red Devils last summer and again in January over a move for the England international.
United initially insisted Mainoo was ‘untouchable’ and then slapped a £70m price tag on his head amid their PSR woes and the midfielder’s dip in form.
TBR Football claimed on Thursday that Tottenham have made a ‘shock enquiry’ to sign Mainoo and ‘actually stand a chance of signing’ the England international.
Spurs ‘have asked about signing’ Mainoo as the north Londoners ‘appreciate the 20-year-old and are keeping abreast of his contract situation, which still hasn’t been agreed’.
Man Utd boss Ruben Amorim is ‘keen to add another’ midfielder this summer and Mainoo could fall down the pecking order at Old Trafford with the World Cup just around the corner.
With that in mind, Mainoo ‘will be eager to be playing regular football’ and that ‘could open the door for Spurs and Chelsea’ as TBR Football ‘sources suggest he could still move this summer’.
Talks over a contract extension have stalled after it was claimed Mainoo’s representatives were asking for £180,000 per week for him to remain at Old Trafford.
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Those reports were later refuted, but with Mainoo currently earning just £25,000 per week and with two years left on his deal, as Dean Saunders explains, United face a ‘dilemma’.
Saunders told talkSPORT: “I know his agent, and he’s not asking for too much money in comparison to what the players are earning at Man United.
“But it’s a dilemma for the football club, what do you do with Mainoo? How much money do you pay him?
“Because he’s actually not done much in the game but gets in the England squad and now he’s in Man United’s team and there’s players earning three times more than him, four times more than him.
“So to protect their asset, how much money have you got to give him to get him to sign a new contract?
“Or, if he’s not going to sign it, they’re going to have to sell him, otherwise he walks out on a free. But I think he’d get in Spurs’ team.”