Manchester United are reportedly ready to open talks with Kobbie Mainoo over a new contract following the news that Casemiro will leave in the summer. It was confirmed on Thursday that United would not be extending Casemiro’s contract and he will leave after four years with the club.

United plan to overhaul their midfield at the end of the season, when a new long-term managerial appointment will be made. Casemiro is 33 and is one of the club’s highest earners, on around £350,000-a-week, having joined for £60million from Real Madrid in 2022, and doesn’t fit into the future plans.

The opposite is clearly the case with Mainoo, who is 20 years old and a graduate of United’s famous academy. Mainoo’s future at the club was uncertain while Ruben Amorim was still in charge, and he was keen to leave for Napoli in January, but the arrival of Michael Carrick as interim manager until the end of the season has brought about a complete U-turn in his fortunes.

Having not started a single Premier League match all season under Amorim, Mainoo was thrust into the starting line-up for Carrick’s first game. United beat Manchester City 2-0 in the derby and Mainoo’s stock has immediately shot up.

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Sky Sports now report that United are keen to start talks with Mainoo and his representatives about signing a new contract. The England international is currently under contract until June 2027 on a deal worth around £20,000 per week.

That reported wage makes him one of United’s lowest earners and has been a source of frustration for the youngster for some time. It has previously been reported that Mainoo has asked for £200,000 in order to put pen to a new deal.

Whatever happens with Mainoo, it is clear that United will undergo a major revamp of their midfield in the summer, with Casemiro leaving and doubts remaining over the future of captain Bruno Fernandes. United are interested in signing Brighton’s Carlos Baleba, Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton and Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson, among others, but their transfer business will likely depend on who comes in as the new manager.

In the meantime, Mainoo looks set to play a key role in the remainder of the season with Carrick calling the shots. The interim boss is a huge fan of Mainoo’s and believes he has been misused as a deeper-lying midfielder.

"I think he's more of an attacker. I don't see him as a holding midfielder. He's probably that line above with that little bit more freedom,” Carrick told Rio Ferdinand last summer. "I think there are different ways of defending. You can defend on that higher line a little bit, but defending right deep around your centre back is a bit of a different thing.

"I've seen him playing a little bit higher with that freedom and creating and taking the ball. I think he's got a massive future. I really like him, I think he just needs a bit of patience and that little bit of break again, which I'm sure he'll get. He's got it, and he's shown that.”

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