Michael Carrick has said he remains hopeful that Kobbie Mainoo will sign a new contract with Manchester United before the end of the current campaign.
The Academy product only made his first Premier League start of the season in the derby victory over Manchester City in January, but has been selected in every one of Carrick’s starting line-ups since.
It’s a record Mainoo looks set to maintain when historic rivals Leeds United cross the Pennines for Monday night’s meeting at Old Trafford, and he’s just four appearances away from bringing up a century of senior outings.
Kobbie - who joined the club at the age of nine - penned a long-term contract with the Reds in February 2023, soon after making his first-team debut, and has established himself as an influential member of the squad.
Our homegrown hero, who turns 21 next Sunday (19 April), has been in impressive form since Carrick took the reins as head coach and the midfielder recently earned a recall to the England squad, putting himself in contention to be selected for this summer’s World Cup.
Ahead of the visit of Leeds, the boss was asked in the second part of his media briefing at Carrington if he was confident that Mainoo will sign a new deal before the end of the season.
“Obviously we'd like to think so, yeah, and it's getting closer so we're positive with that,”
Carrick told the assembled journalists. “We’re calm with it, but we're positive with it. Time will tell how it goes, but at the moment we're in a good place with it.”
With third-placed United well-placed to qualify for next season’s UEFA Champions League with seven league games remaining, Carrick feels being back in Europe’s premier competition has a multitude of benefits - including squad retention and recruitment.
“Champions League just brings so many positive things,”
he added. “It’s where we want to be, there's no getting away from that.
“That has ramifications for so many different things - whether that's players staying, if it's players coming in, it's financially, all sorts of different things. It’s where we want to be, and we need to try and get used to being in there more often.”