Ruben Amorim drops long-term future hint for Kobbie Mainoo and reveals where he has been 'struggling a lot' after youngster starred in Man United's win over FCSB

Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim believes Kobbie Mainoo’s long-term future at the club may lie as a No 10 after he impressed – and scored – in their 2-0 victory over FCSB in the Europa League last night. 

United finished third in the group phase and sealed their spot in the last-16 of the competition, avoiding a two-legged play-off tie in the process, after Diogo Dalot and Mainoo scored against the Romanian champions.

Mainoo, 19, started the game in an advanced role and stood out, having crossed low for Dalot to score and added United’s second goal himself eight minutes later.

Amorim’s system requires the two narrow No 10s to support the lone striker and Mainoo duly linked up with Rasmus Hojlund to good effect in Bucharest.

That has raised the possibility that Amorim will now look to develop him into an attack-minded midfielder, especially given the United boss believes he has ‘struggled’ with his defensive duties when fielded further back.

Putting the successful tweak down to spending more time with his players on the training pitch, Amorim said: ‘To have time to train, to create connections between everybody, that is really, really important for us.

Mainoo scored and registered an assist in United’s 2-0 win over FCSB in the Europa League

Amorim made the change after Mainoo struggled with his defensive duties further back

‘Even the staff, everybody there in training, knowing each other in the right environment, I think it’s really important. 

‘Then you can have one week to prepare a game, so you can work in the beginning of the week, on your idea and still have time to focus also on the opponent to prepare the game in a better way. 

‘I can understand my players better – and put together the Kobbie position today. 

‘We need time to understand the players. He was struggling a lot defending as a midfielder. Now more as a No 10, you can feel it that he was so free, playing the ball near the box, and near the box he is really good, making the small connections. 

‘I need time and we need time to work with the players to understand what is the best position for them.’

Notably, Mainoo created three chances and took nine touches in FCSB’s penalty area – more than in any Premier League game so far this season.

‘In the second half, you can see the opponent getting tired, more slower when they covered the space,’ added Amorim. 

‘We had more space with the players with Kobbie between the lines. One against one from Amad [Diallo], and the pace of [Alejandro] Garnacho, helped a lot. We managed to score two, we should score more.’ 

He also took nine touches inside the opponent’s box – more than in any other league game

Earlier this month, Amorim insisted he wants to keep Mainoo at the club but admitted the club may be forced to offload their homegrown talents.

United are open to allowing Marcus Rashford to leave in the winter transfer window while they would also entertain suitable bids for Mainoo and Garnacho.

Mainoo was previously considered untouchable but his representatives are believed to have reached deadlock with United over a new contract. 

Any potential sale would be 100 per cent profit on the balance sheet and Mail Sport revealed Chelsea would be at the front of the queue should he be put up for sale.