Manchester United are preparing fresh contract discussions for Kobbie Mainoo as they look to secure the midfielder\u2019s future, while also planning to retain Bruno Fernandes beyond the current campaign. Midfield has been identified internally as a particular area of concern and the club is understood to prefer keeping both players rather than entertaining departures.<\/p>\n
Club sources indicate there will be a new round of negotiations over Mainoo\u2019s terms. His existing contract has 18 months remaining and his weekly wage is described as low compared with team-mates. United want to reflect the 20-year-old\u2019s growing importance with a more lucrative package.<\/p>\n
Interest in Mainoo from a number of leading European clubs, including Napoli, has been reported, but United are said to have no intention of sanctioning a sale and expect the youngster to play a significant role for the team in coming seasons.<\/p>\n
The picture is more complicated where Fernandes is concerned. The 31-year-old has been linked with moves to Saudi Arabia and media coverage has suggested a potential fee of up to \u00a3100 million ($134.7 million). That figure has left United prepared for an approach that could be difficult to refuse, even though the player is valued highly within the squad.<\/p>\n
Fernandes has long insisted that while he wants to stay at United, he will not block an exit if the club specifically indicate a desire to cash in. ESPN report that is not on United\u2019s mind this year. The club are reported to be keen to keep Fernandes for at least one more season; his contract runs until 2027 with a 12-month option, and discussions are expected to take place before this summer\u2019s World Cup.<\/p>\n
In short, United\u2019s immediate transfer posture looks defensive on Mainoo and cautiously optimistic over Fernandes, with contract talks and strategic planning scheduled in the coming months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
United ready to open contract talks with Kobbie Mainoo and aim to retain Bruno Fernandes. 2025\/26 WC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6173,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1348,1163],"tags":[983,342],"class_list":["post-6174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-manchester-united-news","category-transfers","tag-agents","tag-bruno-fernandes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6174\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}