Man Utd legend makes worrying prediction for Carlos Baleba and £85m signings amid Kobbie Mainoo claim
Manchester United legend Bryan Robson believes that one of the club’s midfield summer signings will be dropped at Kobbie Mainoo’s expense.
After veteran Casemiro left the club at the end of his contract last season, and Manuel Ugarte suffered a serious knee injury over the summer, Man Utd had to act in the transfer market.
Their first move was to sign Chelsea midfielder Andrey Santos for around £50million, while Aston Villa’s Youri Tielemans followed soon after for £35m.
The Red Devils have just completed a £70million deal for Brighton and Hove Albion star Carlos Baleba, who looked close to heading to Old Trafford last summer, only for INEOS to be put off by his reported £100m price tag.
In Man Utd’s shock loss to Hull City in their Premier League opener on Saturday, Tielemans, Santos, and Bruno Fernandes started in midfield, with Mainoo coming on in the final 20 minutes.
According to former England international Robson, Mainoo was one of the few bright sparks from the 2-0 defeat and in time, he is backing the 21-year-old to start in Man Utd’s midfield.
That is likely to mean that one of Baleba, Santos, or Tielemans will drop to the bench as a result.
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Robson said on talkSPORT, “Well, when Kobe came in for the last 20 minutes, apart from Harry Maguire, I thought he was the only one who took command of the ball and kept it nice and tidy. He looked OK.
“For me, I think he’ll get back into the team and it’ll be somebody else playing alongside him with Fernandes further forward. I can see that’s the way it’ll go because I think Kobe will get better the more games he’s got because unfortunately for him, he goes to the World Cup and he didn’t get any minutes on the pitch.
“But he’s a terrific player and he showed that in the back half of last season. United have got decent options in there but like I say, I thought the lads who came back from the World Cup weren’t at it.”
Mainoo initially looked set to leave Man Utd in the 2026 January transfer window after falling out of favour under former head coach Ruben Amorim.
But the Portuguese’s swift departure, followed by Michael Carrick’s arrival, changed the course of his future. He has since signed a long-term deal until 2031 off the back of being a regular in the first-team in the second half of last season.
But it remains to be seen if he can take a starting spot from any of Man Utd’s new midfield signings as they prepare for Ipswich Town on Sunday. After all, they can’t all start.
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