'Better than Rice' - Man Utd should make Newcastle United swap deal offer for 'brilliant' midfielder Paul Scholes loves

Manchester United have managed to move on most of the players that they wanted to in the summer with Ruben Amorim now at the fine-tuning stage of his squad rebuild.

What the Red Devils boss won’t want is to lose players who could be a key component of a successful United side with speculation continuing to surround the future of Kobbie Mainoo in particular.

Recent reports in The Chronicle suggest that Newcastle United are now considering a move for the 20-year old who is growing increasingly frustrated with his bit-part role.

Newcastle United eye Kobbie Mainoo move

Amorim is a fan of Mainoo, although he has said that there are still gaps in the youngster’s game that need to be improved. What can’t be argued, is that his game won’t get any better sitting on the bench every week, especially with his dream of playing in the World Cup starting to look slimmer by the week. His talent hasn’t really been questioned, however, how he fits into the manager’s system continues to be up for debate.

If Newcastle want Mainoo, United should ask if they would consider a swap deal for one of their own midfielders, and one who would instantly fit into the 3-4-2-1 formation that has been so controversial.

Sandro Tonali is a Michael Carrick. He doesn’t do anything flashy, but what he does do is make everyone around him better by filling in the gaps and by always being available for teammates. It might look easy, but the ability to present yourself as an option for both defenders and forward players isn’t an easy task, nor is being able to put out fires and start counter attacks. It would be painful for United to lose such a good academy graduate, but their starting XI could be improved in this sort of scenario.

Speaking on The Overlap, Paul Scholes said of Tonali: “I still don’t class Caicedo as an all-round midfield player. I know he scored a great goal and was brilliant the other day,” when asked who he thought was the Premier League’s best midfielder.

“I got some stick last year, having a go at him, and I almost thought about taking that back because he was brilliant in the Club World Cup.

“I just prefer the controlling type of midfield players who play with a bit more style and can score goals a bit more often than Caicedo. I love Tonali. He’s been brilliant. Very good. I would probably choose Tonali at this point. Yes, you’re going to say Rice, but I think he’s better than him.”

How highly rated is Kobbie Mainoo?

It is easy to see why Mainoo might be frustrated, after all, only last year he was the toast of Old Trafford with some big names of United past and present singing his praises, not fitting into Amorim’s system doesn’t make him any less of a player.

Speaking after the 2024 FA Cup final, Paul Scholes backed Mainoo to be the future of United’s midfield and made a huge claim about how he compared to himself: "Read a few comparisons between me and this kid last week... don't waste your time, he is 10 times the player I was at 19. Just love the way he receives the ball, the calmness, the awareness of what's around him and of course big goals in big games. This boy is special.”

If Scholes is as good a reference as a midfielder can get, then Casemiro must be a close second given the years he spent at Real Madrid playing with Toni Kroos and Luka Modric: “For those of us who work with him, it’s been no surprise to see him scoring and playing really well in games. I think we have a complete player in Kobbie – aggressive, looks after the ball, a player who wants the ball. I would say that if Kobbie continues the way he’s going with this mentality, continues training hard and doing things right, Manchester United have a great player for the next 15 years.”