Manchester United’s Kobbie Mainoo ruled out of first part of 2023-24 season due to ankle injury

The young midfielder impressed in pre-season for the Red Devils

Manchester United’s teenage sensation Kobbie Mainoo’s foot injury in a pre-season friendly against Real Madrid has now confirmed to be an ankle injury, rendering him unavailable for the first half of the coming season.

He suffered an injury when his foot was tangled after an accidental collision against Real Madrid forward Rodrygo and fell down in the second minute of the game. He was rendered immobile on the spot and had to be carried of the pitch by two staff members. Later, the midfielder was seen leaving the NRG stadium in Houston on crutches and wearing a  protective boot on his left foot.

Kobbie Mainoo is Manchester United’s own homegrown talent and has been a part of the first team environment since before the start of the 22-23 season. He was handed his Premier League debut last season and made a handful of appearances before missing the last leg of the season due to an injury scare.

Fellow Manchester United teammates and staff, including manager Erik ten Hag have earmarked the youngster for a successful career ahead. He has featured in United’s pre-season fixtures against Leeds, Lyon, Arsenal and Real Madrid, impressing in all of them. Erik Ten Hag had informed him before hand that he would not be loaned out this summer and will remain with the team. He is expected to have a major role in the 23-24 campaign.

Erik Ten Hag, while speaking about Mainoo’s injury, lamented: "You can never tell straight after a game. We have to wait for what it is. So, hopefully, it's not too bad and then chances will come. I wanted to see what levels he could play. Against Arsenal, we were pleased with his performance. I wanted to see if he could repeat that, some days after, from then, we would have conclusions. First, we have to wait for the diagnosis and, from there on, we will set conclusions," he told reporters.

Manchester United released a statement about Mainoo’s injury on their website, confirming that the injury was to his ankle. The press release stated that he has flown to the UK for further treatment and will miss the rest of United’s preseason fixtures and his set to miss the first half of the coming 23/24 season.

Mainoo himself put up an Instagram post in which he stated: "I’ll be back stronger and in no time," he wrote. "Thanks for your messages of support."