{"id":12539,"date":"2026-05-26T06:00:44","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T06:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=12539"},"modified":"2026-05-26T06:00:44","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T06:00:44","slug":"kobbie-mainoo-alonso-wants-united-midfielder-to-join-him-at-chelsea-man-united-news-and-transfer-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=12539","title":{"rendered":"Kobbie Mainoo: Alonso wants United midfielder to join him at Chelsea &#8211; Man United News And Transfer News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"penci-post-entry-inner\">\n<p>\t\t\t<i class=\"penci-post-countview-number-check\" style=\"display:none\">8<\/i><\/p>\n<p><!--Article Start--><br \/>Newly-appointed permanent head coach Michael Carrick not only deserves credit for Manchester United\u2019s renaissance on the pitch, but also for helping resuscitate the careers of several first-team stars.<\/p>\n<p>None more so than Kobbie Mainoo. The Englishman seemed destined to leave under former head coach Ruben Amorim, who simply did not trust the academy graduate.<\/p>\n<p>The Portuguese tactician felt Bruno Fernandes was better suited to playing alongside Casemiro in midfield, which meant the 21-year-old failed to make a single Premier League start under him this season.<\/p>\n<p>So disillusioned was the England international that he asked INEOS to let him leave, both in the summer and in January.<\/p>\n<h5>Kobbie Mainoo turnaround under Carrick<\/h5>\n<p>There was interest from Napoli and Chelsea, but Carrick\u2019s arrival changed his fortunes completely. Immediately reinstated into the starting line-up, the Carrington graduate exploded into life.<\/p>\n<p>So good was Kobbie Mainoo in the middle of the park that the co-owners resumed contract talks after they had initially stalled, and ultimately agreed a new long-term deal with the Carrington wonderkid.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udd35\u26a1 EXCL | Alonso\u2019s first signing at Chelsea is expected to be a central midfielder, and sources indicate the profile is very specific.<\/p>\n<p>Not a destroyer. Not a playmaker. Alonso wants a box-to-box runner with high pressing output. Someone who covers ground the way Granit Xhaka\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/4z7Z8Orrwx\">pic.twitter.com\/4z7Z8Orrwx<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 THE CHELSEA FORUM (@TheChelseaForum) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheChelseaForum\/status\/2058938100554895692?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>What followed was a winner against Liverpool and a subsequent call-up to England\u2019s World Cup squad. Not even the player could have imagined such a drastic turnaround in such a short span of time.<\/p>\n<p>The Stockport-born ace has a contract at The Theatre of Dreams until 2031, but that has not stopped suitors from admiring from afar.<\/p>\n<h5>Xabi Alonso wants Kobbie Mainoo at Chelsea<\/h5>\n<p>According to Chelsea Forum on <em>X<\/em> (formerly <em>Twitter<\/em>), new Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso wants to sign a midfielder when the summer window opens, and the Spaniard has his eyes on United\u2019s No.37.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlonso\u2019s first signing at Chelsea is expected to be a central midfielder, and sources indicate the profile is very specific.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot a destroyer. Not a playmaker. Alonso wants a box-to-box runner with high pressing output. Someone who covers ground the way Granit Xhaka did at Leverkusen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKobbie Mainoo has been discussed internally. Morgan Rogers as a No.10 option is also on the board. Two very different players but both represent the same core idea, hunger over reputation.\u201d<\/p>\n<h5>No chance Kobbie Mainoo is leaving<\/h5>\n<p>There is no way the 20-time English league champions would even entertain such a preposterous idea after the season Kobbie Mainoo just had.<\/p>\n<p>The Stamford Bridge side had the chance under Amorim, but blew it. It is time they move on to alternative targets.<\/p>\n<p><em>Feature image Naomi Baker via Getty Images<\/em><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p>The Peoples Person has been one of the world\u2019s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social<\/p>\n<p>\n<!--Article End--><\/p>\n<p><!-- CONTENT END 2 --><\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>8 Newly-appointed permanent head coach Michael Carrick not only deserves credit for Manchester United\u2019s renaissance&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12540,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12539\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}