Mainoo's hungry but situation may remain bleak for bright talent

KOBBIE Mainoo returned to Manchester United training yesterday with renewed hunger to show boss Ruben Amorim he is worthy of a first Premier League start of the season.

- By DAVID MCDONNALL

United's players not involved on international duty were given Friday, Saturday and Sunday off, and told to report back for training to begin the buildup to the weekend trip to arch rivals Liverpool.

Mainoo is among those United players not required by his country during the international break, an unthinkable scenario 16 months ago when he started England’s Euro 2024 final defeat to Spain.

But Mainoo’s continued England exile is a measure of just how far he has fallen since scoring and starring in United's FA Cup final win over Manchester City last year and starting that 2-1 defeat for the Three Lions in Berlin's Olympic Stadium seven weeks later.