Gary Lineker has joked that Kobbie Mainoo should consider ‘suing’ Ruben Amorim for ‘taking a year out of his career’ during the Portuguese’s tenure at Manchester United. Mainoo was frozen out of the starting XI under Amorim, with all 14 of his Premier League appearances this season coming from the substitutes’ bench.
However, the 20-year-old has experienced a dramatic turnaround since Michael Carrick took over last month. Mainoo has started and impressed in all four of United’s victories against Manchester City, Arsenal, Fulham and Tottenham, helping the club into the top four and within three points of third-placed Aston Villa.
Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Lineker said: ‘Do you know what? If I was Kobbie Mainoo – and I say this in jest – I’d be thinking about whether I should sue him. He’s taken a year out of that kid’s career. This kid is a wonderful footballer.’ Lineker described Mainoo as ‘graceful’ and ‘baffled’ by Amorim’s handling of a player he called ‘arguably England’s best player’ at Euro 2024.
Alan Shearer echoed the sentiment, suggesting Amorim must be ‘cringing’ at Carrick’s success. ‘How embarrassing does it look for Ruben Amorim at the minute?’ Shearer said. ‘That isn’t the only one – the system he refused to go away from... there are so many things he must be cringing at.’
Lineker is confident Mainoo will make England’s World Cup squad if he maintains his form under Carrick. Of Carrick’s impact, Lineker added: ‘People will say it might just be a quick bounce, but I don’t see that. He’s got them looking like a team again.’
