Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes (Picture: Getty) Paul Scholes is confident that Kobbie Mainoo can be ‘the future’ of Manchester United’s midfield under Michael Carrick. Mainoo broke through and excelled under Erik ten Hag, before falling out of favour under Ruben Amorim and almost leaving his boyhood club. Carrick’s arrival saw Mainoo restored to the first team and enjoy a positive end to the season, which culminated in the Englishman being named in Thomas Tuchel’s squad for the World Cup. The Red Devils have bolstered their midfield ranks significantly over the summer, with Youri Tielemans, Andrey Santos and Carlos Baleba arriving to provide competition for Mainoo. Exclusive Premier League previews Get ahead of the start of the season with our weekly football newsletter. Sign up now for free. But Scholes still believes that Mainoo can the shining light for United in the middle of the park if he continues his development. ‘I think he is capable of being the future of the midfield,’ Scholes said in a video with SPORTbible. ‘Look, he’s going to get better, he’s still a young kid and missed a lot of football because he’d been out of favour. Kobbie Mainoo made his first league start of the season last weekend (Picture: Getty) ‘When he did play last year, look, he was all right, but he’d missed a lot of football, so it’s always going to take him a little bit of time. ‘But I think if he gets the right partner next to him, I’ve no doubt the ability is there.’ Nicky Butt was similarly positive about Mainoo’s potential, but said the 21-year-old has two obvious areas of his game that he needs to improve. Mainoo pulling the strings 🧵 pic.twitter.com/ZF0aLkXYAM— Premier League (@premierleague) September 3, 2026 ‘I love Kobbie because of what we know about him, again, through the youth teams and his talent that he’s got,’ Butt added. ‘He just doesn’t seem to be getting a chance of a big, long run. ‘He did with Michael at the end of the season, towards the end, and quieted down people that were going against him a little bit, but I still think he needs to do more. ‘He needs to contribute more goal scoring and he also needs to be able to get around the pitch a bit better. Michael Carrick praised Mainoo after United’s win on Sunday (Picture: Getty) ‘But I do think he should be playing at the start of this season.’ Mainoo made his first start of the season in United’s 5-2 win over Ipswich last weekend, and earned rave reviews from his boss at full-time. ‘I thought he was pretty much all-around very, very good for a first start back,’ Carrick said of Mainoo. ‘You know, we kind of managed him a little bit, and we’ve got good midfielders, so it’s that trying to make the best of the combinations. ‘But I thought Kobbie, I understand Bruno will get a lot of credit today, and he deserves that as well, but I thought Kobbie was immense in the middle of the pitch for us and underpinned the performance of the team.’ United return to action next weekend away at Everton. For more stories like this, check our sport page. Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Comment now Comments Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google Add as preferred source