Kobbie Mainoo has signed a five year contract keeping him at Manchester United until 2031. And honestly the story behind this moment is one of the most interesting things to happen at this club in years. Because fate works differently and this one could have gone so wrong.
Just a few months ago it was all but confirmed. Kobbie was either going on loan or being sold if the price was right. That was the plan. That was where his United career was heading. A boy from the academy, a player who had given United fans some of their best moments in recent years, was about to be shown the door.
And then the manager changed. And so did his fate. And I dare to say so did Manchester United's fate too.
Now Jason Wilcox is out here talking about what an amazing talent Kobbie is. Saying all the right things. Bigging him up. And look I am glad someone at the club is finally saying it but where was all this when Kobbie was being benched? Where was Jason Wilcox when this boy, this kid from the youth system, was not being given a fair chance? Did he walk into the manager's office and say this player deserves to play? Did he make sure the guy who gives hope to every young player in that academy, the proof that if you work hard enough you will get your chance at the senior team, was actually being given that chance?
No. He did not. So why are you talking now Jason? Why do you keep talking?
Amorim said a lot of things too. And some of us fans, and I include myself in this, were actually starting to doubt Kobbie. We were questioning whether he was good enough. A player who did not miss his chance against City, against Liverpool, in the biggest games. We were doubting that player because a manager who himself got sacked was making us doubt him.
Think about that for a second. If Amorim does not get himself sacked we lose Kobbie Mainoo. A generational talent from our own academy. Gone. Because one manager was so full of himself, so blind, that he could not see what was right in front of him. The ownership, Wilcox, Berrada, none of them did anything to protect this kid. And we could have lost him.
But we did not. And every single game since Carrick came in Kobbie has looked better and better. More confident, more complete, more like the player we always knew he could be.
If Kobbie Mainoo plays for any other English club right now he is easily a hundred million pound player. The way he is performing, the way he carries himself, the way he takes the game by the scruff of the neck in big moments. A hundred million easy.
Thank God he is staying. And thank God that manager got sacked when he did.
Let me know your thoughts.