Rio Ferdinand has challenged Manchester United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo to follow the example set by Casemiro in his bid to salvage his future at Old Trafford.
33-year-old Casemiro has endured a mixed tenure with United and it was not too long ago that he was facing desperate pleas from fans to pursue a move elsewhere, with many supporters arguing he was a shell of the midfield enforcer that had won five Champions League titles with Real Madrid.
Now, however, Casemiro is among the first names on the team sheet in Ruben Amorim’s resurgent side, perhaps at Mainoo’s expense. The 20-year-old academy graduate has struggled for minutes under the Portuguese boss and has not started in the Premier League this season.
A request to leave on loan in the summer was rejected, leaving Mainoo forced to accept short cameos late on in games while his dreams of travelling to the 2026 World Cup with England appear to fade.
Ferdinand urged Mainoo not to call time on his United career and instead look to the wisdom of Casemiro, who has proven how to fight back from the fringes of the first team.
“Watch and learn,” he said on YouTube. “There was a player being told he’s not good enough for Manchester United, exactly what Mainoo’s been through. I think character-wise, personality-wise, there’s a lot to learn from Casemiro.
“Yes there’s football-wise too but they are very different players.”
Ferdinand: Rashford Not the Example to Follow
Ferdinand also touched on Mainoo’s status as a homegrown talent—something that could harm his chances of a January departure—as he accused another academy graduate, Marcus Rashford, of failing to show the fight needed to win Amorim over.
“[Casemiro’s fight] is what I think a lot of fans would have wanted from Rashford, from [Jadon] Sancho from Antony, those guys have gone elsewhere now,” he continued.
“Especially Rashford because he’s homegrown. Just stay and fight, be here and fight for it, be a Man Utd player, hold on, grit your teeth and hold on by your fingernails. But sometimes it’s just not the way.”
Ferdinand did confess, however, that Casemiro’s resurgence has had a direct impact on Mainoo’s bid for minutes in United’s midfield.
“You’ve got Casemiro, a man in form and Bruno [Fernandes], the most exciting player we’ve got, it’s going to be hard for Kobbie to get in here right now,” he acknowledged.
READ THE LATEST MAN UTD NEWS, TRANSFER RUMORS AND MORE
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Man Utd Legend Sends Challenge to Kobbie Mainoo.
