Youri Tielemans has revealed he would like to help Kobbie Mainoo add one final element to his game, which could boost his potential even further.
Kobbie Mainoo looks set to play his first minutes of the summer against AC Milan on Saturday afternoon after returning to Manchester United on Monday alongside Marcus Rashford.
The 21-year-old did not feature at the World Cup for England, which came as quite a shock to United fans, given how impressive he was under Michael Carrick in the second half of the season.
In 2026/27, Mainoo will face competition for his starting spot from new signing Youri Tielemans – who moved to Old Trafford for £35 million from Aston Villa.
Tielemans is yet to start in pre-season, but has impressed from the bench against Paris Saint-Germain and Leeds United.
The two could play together for the first time against AC Milan on Saturday, although Michael Carrick will also be looking to give minutes to Andrey Santos and Bruno Fernandes, while Mason Mount could make his return from injury.
Youri Tielemans wants to help Kobbie Mainoo
While Mainoo has impressed for Manchester United for multiple years, he is still developing and improving as a player.
Last season, Mainoo improved his out-of-possession game, with quicker covering of the ground and stronger tackles and interceptions – likely due to working with Casemiro. It seems Tielemans is hoping to leave his own mark on Mainoo and help the youngster add a new dynamic to his game.
"He has great strength on the ball, he can hold the ball forever. His technical quality, he can receive the ball and turn," Tielemans said of Mainoo while speaking with Rio Ferdinand.
"I think maybe an area, from what I’ve seen, where he can improve is making the right choice, the right weight of pass to play forward.
"Like I said, that is a process. He’s still so young and will learn so much throughout his career and I hope I can help him to learn those things, but yeah, if he can add that then the sky is the limit for him."
Michael Carrick will be forced to rotate more often this season, with United back in the cup competitions, so Mainoo and Tielemans could line-up next to each other quite often. Even if they do not start together, the Belgian international will look to provide guidance in training, with Andrey Santos likely listening in, too.
Man Utd need one more midfielder
Tielemans and Santos from Aston Villa and Chelsea are two good signings for Manchester United (as is Karl Darlow on a free), but Michael Carrick will want more heading into next season.
Speaking to a group of journalists in Ireland, Carrick said: "I think we've got a pretty good balance in all when you lay the squad out, but of course we would like more… We would like more, we need to keep pushing for more.
"There's one or two areas where we'd like to improve and we feel that there's the possibility to improve, but again, that needs to be something that we can do that makes us better and improves the group, whether that's quality or whether that's a little bit of depth. That's something we've got to manage. That's pretty obvious."
A midfielder seems the most obvious addition for United, although left-back also seems to be a priority. Mason Mount's injury scare against PSG should be enough to highlight that United are short on numbers in the middle of the park, and one injury could derail their season in 2026/27.
While it will not be an expectation, Manchester United could be in a Premier League title fight next term, with much of the "Big Six" going through a transitional summer after appointing a new manager.
United have a chance to return to the top, and that opportunity should not be ended through a lack of investment.
