'Shut up and go back to work' - Kobbie Mainoo is savaged live on air in Man United bust-up
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Credit: Imago, Getty
Oliver Walton
Sat 30 August 2025 11:00, UK
Man United star Kobbie Mainoo has been blasted as he tries to force a move away from Old Trafford in the latter stages of the summer transfer window.
Mainoo’s future is currently up in the air after he was left on the bench and did not play a single minute of Man United‘s first two Premier League games of the season.
The 20-year-old has been unable to properly stake his claim under Ruben Amorim since the turn of the year, with just eight league starts since then, and Mainoo has now been linked with moves to Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid with a potential exit on the horizon.
Mainoo has requested to leave Man United on loan before the deadline next Monday (1 September), but it is unclear whether the Red Devils will allow him to depart with Amorim insisting that he wants him to stay and “fight for his place” in the team.
It seems like the England man is continuing in his desire to make an exit, however, and he has now been heavily criticised for his conduct at Old Trafford by an ex-player turned pundit.
Credit: Imago
Football Insider revealed on Friday (29 August) that Mainoo’s lack of game-time under Amorim is forcing him out of Man United, with the Portuguese boss previously insisting that he is in competition for a starting spot with star man and captain Bruno Fernandes.
Speaking live on talkSPORT (29 August), former Watford captain and current pundit Troy Deeney blasted Mainoo’s desire to depart because of his lack of minutes amid a debate with Sam Matterface and Alex Crook over whether he is right to revolt and want to leave the club right now.
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He said: “January, he could have left, chose not to.
This is my problem with the club as a whole…you know everything.
“We know if the tea ladies [have] been sacked, we know if the tickets have gone up, we know if the club took the tickets back from the players.
We live in a world now, sorry to go down another rabbit hole, where, ‘it’s not my fault, it’s this, it’s not my fault, it’s that’.
Shut up and work.”
Football Insider verdict
Mainoo’s United downfall has been a strange one, as he was a real standout when he was first breaking through under Erik ten Hag, then did not seem to do much wrong other than get injured, yet has been forced out of the team by Amorim.
Unless there are back-room issues that have not been publicly disclosed, which seems unlikely at a club as big as United with so many rumours about rifts behind the scenes that seem to be revealed, then it is baffling as to why the club would allow him to leave this summer.
AppearancesGoalsAssists7372Mainoo’s Man United career stats
It does make sense as to why Mainoo is reportedly the one trying to force an exit, but that is born from a lack of chances handed to him by Amorim both last season and at the start of this term, despite his midfield looking lethargic and consistently being overpowered by opposition teams.
Man United have reportedly dropped their asking price for Mainoo to £45million, despite previously wanting £70m when Chelsea enquired about him in January, and so an exit certainly does seem likely, despite his ability meaning that the likes of Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid are interested.
Amorim needs to start giving him a real chance to stake his claim by allowing him to rotate with the likes of Mason Mount, Manuel Ugarte and Casemiro, as none of those players have particularly impressed throughout their time at the club and none have the potential to become a top player in the coming years like Mainoo.