{"id":4748,"date":"2026-05-06T09:37:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T09:37:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=4748"},"modified":"2026-05-06T09:37:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T09:37:15","slug":"arsenal-consider-shock-summer-move-for-man-utd-star-after-kobbie-mainoo-approach-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=4748","title":{"rendered":"Arsenal consider shock summer move for Man Utd star after Kobbie Mainoo approach | Football"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n\t\t\"Arsenal\t<\/div>
Arsenal were \u2018at the front of the queue\u2019 to sign the United star (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Arsenal explored a move for Manchester United star Kobbie Mainoo last year with Marcus Rashford emerging as a shock target ahead of the summer transfer window.<\/p>\n

Mainoo\u2019s fortunes at Old Trafford have undergone a complete transformation having been frozen out of the first-team by Ruben Amorim for the first-half of the season. <\/p>\n

Having been told he was in direct competition with club captain Bruno Fernandes for a starting role, the England international failed to start a single Premier League game until the Portuguese head coach left the club in January.<\/p>\n

Mainoo was immediately restored to the team by Michael Carrick and has played almost every minute under the new manager, missing just one game through injury.<\/p>\n

The 21-year-old signed a new long-term deal last week, celebrating it with a winning goal against Liverpool on Sunday.<\/p>\n

While his long-term future is now secured, Mainoo pushed for a loan move away from Manchester in the final days of the summer transfer window. As many as 10 clubs were interested in his services with Napoli emerging as a possible destination.<\/p>\n

But according to the Daily Mail, Arsenal were \u2018at the front of the queue\u2019 to sign him, waiting to see how the situation played out.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Manchester\t<\/div>
Mainoo has committted his long-term future to United (Picture: Visionhaus\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While that shipped has now sailed, the Gunners have also been credited with interest in another United star.<\/p>\n

Rashford joined Barcelona on a season-long loan last summer, eager to kickstart his career after two bleak campaigns in Manchester.<\/p>\n

That loan deal included an option to buy for \u00a326million but it is increasingly unlikely Barcelona will not trigger that clause on its current terms.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Atletico\t<\/div>
Rashford\u2019s future now looks uncertain (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The La Liga giants have explored a second loan arrangement having also tried to negotiate a lower price \u2013 something United will not entertain.<\/p>\n

Should the stand-off with Barcelona continue, United will listen to other offers for Rashford with the Mail naming Arsenal and Bayern Munich as two clubs who are carefully monitoring the situation.<\/p>\n

Mikel Arteta\u2019s side were keen to sign a left winger last summer, exploring moves for Anthony Gordon and Rodrygo.<\/p>\n

Eventually, Noni Madueke was signed from Chelsea with Eberechi Eze joining from Crystal Palace to bolster their attack.<\/p>\n

Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli have continued to share duties on the left this season but it is an area of the pitch Arsenal will consider strengthening this summer. <\/p>\n

Arrow<\/title>\n<\/svg>MORE: Vincent Kompany responds to Mikel Arteta \u2018different worlds\u2019 comment<\/span><\/p>\n

Arrow<\/title>\n<\/svg>MORE: Bukayo Saka knows \u2018deep down\u2019 who Arsenal want to play in Champions League final<\/span><\/p>\n

Arrow<\/title>\n<\/svg>MORE: Diego Simeone makes Arsenal, Barcelona and Real Madrid claim after Atletico Madrid defeat<\/span><\/p>\n
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Arsenal were \u2018at the front of the queue\u2019 to sign the United star (Picture: Getty)…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4749,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4748","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\/4748","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=4748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}