Manchester United are positive Kobbie Mainoo will sign a new deal to stay at Old Trafford, head coach Michael Carrick says.
Mainoo has been in talks over an extension likely to run until 2031 that will secure him secure a significant salary increase on his current contract, which was signed in 2023, just as he was breaking into the senior squad.
“It’s getting closer, so we’re positive with that,” said Carrick.
“Time will tell how it goes but we are calm with it and at the moment, we are in a good place,” he said before his side faces Leeds United on Monday.
That will be welcomed by the vast majority of Manchester United fans – as when they last played Leeds on 4 January, it was unimaginable that Mainoo would stay.
At that point, the midfielder had not started a Premier League match all season under Ruben Amorim. But the 1-1 draw at Elland Road turned out to be Amorim’s last.
Mainoo, 20, was absent with a calf injury at the time, but was his winter transfer window options, having seen a request to join Napoli on loan rejected last summer.
But in his post-match news conference at Leeds, Amorim criticised the club’s hierarchy in such fierce terms, he was dismissed within 24 hours.
Carrick watched that game with Wayne Rooney and their respective families on holiday in Barbados. At that point, he had no clue how his life was about to change.
“There wasn’t really any sign of it at that stage,” he said. “I was supporting from afar and enjoying time with my family.
“That’s just the way the game goes. It can change quickly. You can be in it or you can be out, or results can go one way and can go the other way and if players are fit and in form, then the game flips.
“That’s why we can never take anything for granted and you live in the present and what’s coming up next week – and keep trying to improve.”
It is why, despite seven wins and a single defeat in his 10 games in charge, Carrick is not getting carried away.
That period has propelled Manchester United to third in the table and leaves them needing just four wins and a draw from their final seven games to be certain of Champions League qualification.
However, United’s position is so strong, many are arguing it would represent a failure if they didn’t make it.
Carrick is not one for hyperbole – and doesn’t go for easy headlines. But his innate ambition means he is in a tricky position.
“Strong word that,” was his response when asked about the failure aspect. But then: “I didn’t say that. No, I wouldn’t accept it, no,” was his response when it was suggested his first rejection meant sixth would be acceptable.
Carrick is more comfortable talking about long-term aims, which are in line with his own when he was a player at the club.
What he accepts is that, after finishing 15th last season, the leap cannot be done in one go.
“As a club, we want to be challenging right at the top,” he said. “There’s no getting away from that.
“But there are steps. We have to be realistic as well: talking about where we came in and where we are now and just keep building on that.”
Champions League qualification would be a significant step – both from a financial and prestige point of view.
“It’s pretty obvious to everyone if you finish in certain places in the league, financially, it makes a lot of difference,” he said.
“The Champions League just brings so many positive things. It’s where we want to be, there’s no getting away from that. That has ramifications for so many different things: players staying, players coming in.
“We need to try and get used to being in there more often.”