Manchester United's Kobbie Mainoo has not started a single Premier League match this season and has been linked with a loan in the January transfer market, but manager Ruben Amorim says the English midfielder is the future of the club.

Mainoo has played in 12 matches this season, one of them as a starter in the League Cup, and missed United's match against Newcastle United on Friday due to a calf injury.

Amorim has said the 20-year-old player will have to be patient, but that he will get his chance in the team.

"Kobbie Mainoo will get his chance, he has all the time in the world," Amorim told reporters.

"He has played in different positions and, if we talk about Casemiro's position, he can play in that role. If you play with three (in midfield), he can play, as we did in the last match, in Mason Mount's position in this match, he can play there," he said.

"So he is going to be the future of Manchester United. That is my feeling. You just have to wait for every opportunity, and everything can change in football in two days," he stated.

Given that United's squad has several injured players and others participating in the Africa Cup of Nations, Amorim said it would be difficult to accept any request from a player to leave in January.

"It is going to be difficult for anyone to leave the club if we don't get a replacement," the Portuguese manager said.

"We are short. Even with a full squad, we are missing something just in case," he concluded.

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