A former Manchester United player has explained why he believes head coach Ruben Amorim has a “personal” issue with one of his players.
Firefighting at Old Trafford has not been successful as Amorim is one of the candidates to be the next Premier League manager to be sacked.
Man United had a poor start to the 2025-26 season under an inexperienced manager, losing to Grimsby Town in the Carabao Cup and sitting in 10th place in the Premier League after seven games.
United’s head coach has refused to return from his failing 3-4-3 formation and has been heavily criticized for being too set in his ways, with the team certainly having a few favorites.
England international Koby Mainoo is one of the Premier League’s most talented young players, but he has suffered a slump over the past 18 months due to injuries and a decline in form.
Read: Chelsea also breach £546m PL ‘salary cap’, Manchester United will face 23 point deduction
Mainu remains one of Man United’s best players, but has barely featured under Amorim, with former United player Paul Parker claiming the head coach must have “personal” issues with the central midfielder.
“You have to ask why Mynu wasn’t used in that midfield,” Parker said in an interview with mybettingsites.co.uk.
“Somewhere along the line, it has to be personal because I’ve seen it.
“It has to be personal and the truth has to be told somewhere. He doesn’t like him or he doesn’t like him as a player. It makes no sense at all.”
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Speaking about the potential sale of Mainu, he continued, “If we allow Mainu to go because he’s a local boy, we’re going to have a big problem. But it’s not just about that, it’s about what he’s achieved in a short period of time and he’s not given time and respect.
“You have to understand that when you’re young, you lose your form quickly, but it’s important to get back up.
“You make mistakes but you nurture them, you don’t stomp on things, you make demands, but you demand them in a different way. He doesn’t have what a good manager like Sir Alex Ferguson does with young players.”
“Maybe they should have sent him out on loan and let him play. Go abroad and get that bit of experience and then come back and start again. Especially in this current scenario where they’re not going to use him, they should have let him go and let him do that.”
Parker also explained why he believes Mainu is being “hurt” by Man United and Amorim.
“It’s going to really hurt him to just have him warm up on the bench. It’s about his team, it’s got to be hurting him that they’re not doing well, it’s got to be hurting him that he’s not playing and he’s got to be scratching his head,” Parker added.
“Every minute, every minute, he has to enjoy it and prove himself.
“When he played against City, I thought he could get man of the match. He was Man United’s best player in that cameo. Everything he did was effective and hurt City. I thought he could get man of the match. I thought he could get man of the match.”
“But then nothing happened. I was disappointed with Amorim. I expected more from him in this scenario.”