Kobbie Mainoo’s Love Island star brother wears ‘Free Kobbie Mainoo’ shirt to Man Utd vs Bournemouth at Old Trafford
KOBBIE MAINOO’S brother wore a provocative T-shirt during Manchester United’s hectic 4-4 draw with Bournemouth.
Former Love Island star Jordan Mainoo-Hames was pictured wearing a black top with “Free Kobbie Mainoo” plastered across it in bold white letters.
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Kobbie Mainoo’s older half brother Jordan wore a ‘Free Kobbie Mainoo’ shirt to the game at UnitedCredit: Refer to source
Mainoo started on the bench once again in the 4-4 draw with BournemouthCredit: Shutterstock Editorial
A group of fans launched the attire hours before kick-off to protest the academy graduate’s limited playing time under manager Ruben Amorim.
Mainoo once again found himself on the bench, with Amorim persisting with his preferred midfield pivot of Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro on Thursday night.
And just as he did at Wolves last week, Mainoo received a rapturous applause from the United faithful when he was subbed on for Casemiro when United were trailing 3-2 in the 60th minute.
Mainoo has been linked with a January loan move away from his boyhood club after playing just 302 Premier League minutes this season, a far cry from the 19 starts and 25 total appearances which he managed in 2024/25.
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The 20-year-old boyhood player and fan favourite has not been named in a single starting XI in 16 games this season and has drawn interest from dozens of clubs including Napoli and Chelsea.
Mainoo wants regular playing time but United are keen to keep him as Noussair Mazraoui, Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo could be absent for up to a month on Africa Cup of Nations duty.
And now his half-brother has thrown a spanner in the works – a risk that could harm his younger sibling’s already fractured relationship with boss Amorim – and antagonise fans.
Mainoo-Hames later posted a picture of himself wearing the shirt to his 681,000 followers on Instagram. SunSport has approached United for comment.
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The ill-advised stunt could not have come at a worse time for Mainoo, who enjoyed one of his better cameos from the bench in the wild draw with Bournemouth.
Despite Casemiro scoring his fourth of the campaign, the Brazil captain is now suspended for United’s next game away at Aston Villa. His foul proved costly, resulting in a free-kick that Marcus Tavernier converted past Senne Lammens.
Mainoo arguably played himself into a bigger role when United travel to Villa on Sunday and was hoping to show his worth with Amad, Bryan Mbeumo and Noussair Mazraoui now on Afcon duty.
It comes on a day that fellow United youngsters Harry Amass and Chido Obi made headlines for not-so-subtle digs that appeared to be aimed at Amorim.
In a now-deleted post, Amass shared a photo of him winning Wednesday’s November Player of the Month award with a smiley face emoji. It was deleted within five minutes of being published.
When quizzed on Mainoo on Friday, Amorim said: “I don’t know what is going to be the future (for Mainoo). Let’s see after this match.
“Amass is now struggling in the Championship. Chido (Obi) is not always a starter in Under-21s.
“All these guys played when a lot of people were saying sack the manager!”
Obi, who is currently sidelined through injury, responded in similar fashion, sharing a photo of him celebrating scoring for United’s Under-21s, a nod to Amorim’s remark.
That post was also deleted minutes after going up, and Obi also removed all mention of United from his bio before adding the club back to it later that evening.
Mainoo’s minutes have been the question on everybody’s lips since the start of the campaign when he was named on the bench for the final pre-season friendly against Fiorentina.
United blocked the Euro 2024 finalist’s request to leave on loan in the summer and his only start all season was in the Carabao Cup second-round defeat to Grimsby Town in August.
Amorim also warned that the grass is not always greener when you leave — as other United graduates have found out.
Amorim said: “The team comes first and if Kobbie comes to me and talks to me, I will talk to him.
“I’m not going to say what I’m going to say to Kobbie but I will be really pleased if Kobbie comes to talk to me about that.
“I just want my players happy and I understand that every individual has their goals.
“The frustration doesn’t help anybody. But again, the focus is in this game and we will see if that happens.”
United have been freshly-linked with Tyler Adams – who only had two minutes at Old Trafford tonight before he was forced off through injury – as they look to overhaul their engine room.
His team-mate and replacement off the bench, Alex Scott, was also linked with a transfer, as well as long-term targets in Carlos Baleba, Adam Wharton and Elliot Anderson.
World darts No1 Luke Littler was in attendance for the eight-goal thriller, as was Sir Alex Ferguson.
Amad and Casemiro had put United ahead at the break, but needed goals from Bruno Fernandes and Matheus Cunha in the second half to see off the Cherries comeback.
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