'LAUGHING and JOKING!' - Kobbie Mainoo likes post that mocks ex-Man Utd boss Ruben Amorim & his coaching staff amid claims they're celebrating 'fat payout' of £10m

The 20-year-old, who is a product of United’s fabled academy system, is yet to start a Premier League game this season - with all of his minutes in the English top-flight coming from off the bench. The only match that he made the starting XI in was a humbling Carabao Cup defeat to League Two side Grimsby.

Mainoo is ruled out of action at present with an injury that he sustained prior to a meeting with Aston Villa. Amorim was, however, clearly reluctant to favour the youngster in his 3-4-2-1 system that attracted so much criticism.

Amorim has now paid the price for his refusal to tinker with a formation that failed to deliver positive results on a consistent basis, with his 14-month tenure being brought to a close after spending 63 games at the helm.

United have taken decisive action after seeing their former boss speak out against the club’s board, while leaving several first-team performers frustrated - with many, including the likes of Marcus Rashford, Antony and Jadon Sancho, being moved on.

Alejandro Garnacho is another who left Old Trafford after being frozen out by Amorim, and the Argentina international - who is now on the books at Chelsea - has liked an Instagram post confirming the sacking of his former boss.

Mainoo has also taken to social media and liked a post mocking the Portuguese's departure, with Instagram account @thatguysjokes quoting a report claiming "staff at Carrington were surprised to see Ruben Amorim and his coaching staff leave the training ground LAUGHING and JOKING" with the caption: "I'd be laughing too after getting a £10mil payout." Mainoo has not made a statement of his own.

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Club captain Bruno Fernandes and fellow Portuguese Diogo Dalot have expressed their gratitude to Amorim and wished him well for the future. It has, however, been noted that 10 members of United’s senior squad have remained silent.

Four members of Amorim’s last starting XI in a 1-1 draw with Leeds have remained tight-lipped - they are goalkeeper Senne Lammens, defender Lisandro Martinez as well as midfield duo Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte.

Another quartet - Altay Bayindir, Tom Heaton, Noussair Mazraoui and Tyrell Malacia - are also yet to speak out. Meanwhile, teenage striker Chido Obi - who was handed his debut by Amorim last season but has not featured at all this term - is another keeping his powder dry.

Mainoo’s sister, Ama, has delivered a not-so-subtle dig at Amorim after posting an image on Instagram of a woman sporting a broad grin. The youngster’s brother, Jordan Mainoo-Hames, will also be feeling more positive after being spotted sporting a t-shirt with the slogan “Free Kobbie Mainoo” at a Premier League game in December.

Amorim responded to that gesture by saying: “It was not Kobbie who wore the T-shirt. He is not going to start because of the T-shirt, or go to the bench because of it. He is going to play if he is the right player to play.”

He continued to bill Mainoo as the “future of Manchester United” but appeared reluctant to trust the midfielder alongside the likes of Fernandes and Casemiro. That led to transfer talk being generated ahead of the winter window.

A move to Italy - where former team-mates Scott McTominay and Rasmus Hojlund are thriving at Serie A champions Napoli - has been mooted, while there is Premier League interest in a man that continues to cling to a 2026 World Cup dream.

A clean slate is now being presented to all concerned at Old Trafford, and that could work in Mainoo’s favour. Ex-United midfielder Darren Fletcher, who is currently the Red Devils’ U18 boss, has been handed the reins on an interim basis while there are plenty of rumours to suggest that Michael Carrick or Ole Gunnar Solskjaer - two men who know all about life in Manchester - could be handed first-team reins through to the end of the 2025-26 campaign.