Michael Carrick reveals contract of Man Utd favourite Kobbie Mainoo is 'close'

Michael Carrick has revealed that a contract renewal for one of his Manchester United favourites, Kobbie Mainoo, is "getting closer."

Carrick has engineered a turnaround at United, placing them firmly within the top four. The Red Devils are third in the table, with a game in hand on fifth-placed Liverpool and a three-point gap to them.

One of the biggest differences between Carrick's side and that of predecessor Ruben Amorim is the presence of Mainoo in the midfield.

Mainoo has started 10 games in the Premier League this season and every single one has been since Carrick took over as interim boss. The midfielder has two assists in those games, in victories against Arsenal and Tottenham.

It was recently suggested that Mainoo's contract was getting close to a renewal, and Carrick himself has seemingly confirmed that.

He said: "We'd like to think so, and it’s getting closer, so we're positive with that.

"We're calm with it, but we're positive with it, and time will tell how it goes. But at the moment, we are in a good place."

Contracts yet to be sorted

There is speculation that United winger Jadon Sancho - who's spent the last couple of seasons on loans away from Old Trafford - will not be given an extension of his current deal and will be free to leave in the summer.

Carrick has discussed how there's no conclusion on that yet, after Harry Maguire's contract was renewed of late.

Carrick said: "I think coming to the summer, there's contracts, and there's all sorts of things that need to be sorted out, but at this stage, to that stage, it's not been sorted out just yet.

"I think we'll cross that bridge a little bit further down the line, but it's great to have Harry sorted and clarity in that situation. Casemiro was a little bit before me really, so I wasn't particularly involved in that, but I think as time goes, everything ends up getting sorted out.

"We're just not at that stage where anything else is sorted just yet."

There have been multiple reports suggesting that United have come to the decision not to renew Sancho's deal, so whether that is the case but the club don't want to reveal that yet, or they do give the winger another year, remains to be seen.