West Ham fans explain why they don’t want Manchester United’s Kobbie Mainoo, ‘we will not’

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They say you should never fall in love with a loanee. And yet West Ham United – linked heavily with a move for Kobbie Mainoo this week – could not help but stumble head over heels when Jesse Lingard lit up the London Stadium.

Lingard hinted at lingering West Ham regrets when speaking from his current home in South Korea not so long ago.

Who knows, had the Hammers managed to agree a permanent deal with Manchester United in the summer of 2021 – when FC Seoul’s 32-year-old captain was at the peak of his powers – maybe Jesse Lingard would have a World Cup to look forward to while spending his prime years in parading around the Premier League in claret and blue.

Four years on, there are some West Ham United hearts that will never be fully healed.

It is not only painful memories of lost love, though, that has some casting doubt on the logic of offering Kobbie Mainoo a mid-season loan switch to the London Stadium.

Fabrizio Romano reports that West Ham offered Mainoo a ‘guaranteed’ spot in their starting XI in an attempt to lure another Manchester United benchwarmer down south. Claims that have not been particularly well received, given that the Hammers have their own homegrown midfield talent in Freddie Potts.

Why spend half a season developing a young player, the fans ask, only to send him back to a Premier League rival, when you have one of your very own desperate for opportunities?

Opportunities that Potts has a habit of grabbing with both hands.

West Ham fans share Kobbie Mainoo doubts as Manchester United ace looks for a loan

Even while trying to keep a lid on the bubbling expectations, Nuno Espirito Santo raved about Potts’ ‘fantastic’ display during that long-awaited first league win in seven.

The 22-year-old’s full debut in the competition coincided with the Hammers’ most complete, coherent performance of the campaign. Although a coincidence it was certainly not.

As Alan Pardew told talkSPORT following that 3-1 triumph over Newcastle, West Ham may have another Mark Noble ready to cement his place in the heart of a claret and blue engine room for the best part of the next decade.

That is without mentioning Mainoo’s potentially asphyxiating impact on George Earthy, Mohamadou Kante or the twinkle-toed Preston Fearon.

It is not as if Manchester United, who rate Mainoo extremely highly despite his lack of game time under Ruben Amorim, are likely to consider a permanent deal at the end of any short-term loan spells after all.

“Why?,” one fan wrote on X after hearing that West Ham may have made an approach for Mainoo. “We need a centre-back and striker, not a midfielder. The only reason for us getting Mainoo would be if [Lucas] Paqueta is leaving.”

“How can you guarantee someone a first-team start if they aren’t playing well?,” another says, perhaps wary of another Kalvin Phillips situation.

“Sigh. Begins mantra; We, the West Ham fanbase, will not fall in love with a football player on a January loan from Man Utd, whom we stand zero chance of signing come the summer. We will not.”

“[Start Mainoo] over who? Not Potts. Not [Mateus] Fernandes? Not ‘Paq-man’.”

“Kobbie Mainoo is a good player but is it worth stifling Potts and possibly [Soungoutou] Mougassa’s development in order to give a Man Utd youngster a few minutes? In the summer, I would have had him but I don’t think we need him now.”

“If Potts keeps delivering and developing further, then he’ll be as good, if not better than Mainoo. Why stifle Potts development to appease someone who just wants a ticket to the World Cup?

“The only way it makes sense is if we sell [Andy] Irving and James Ward-Prowse in January, and Mainoo could be an option from the bench.”

“We should develop what we have. We do actually have a decent and young midfield core.”

“He will be injured before you know it. Play our players.”

Nuno Espirito Santo full of praise for Freddie Potts before Burnley

While Nuno has caused plenty of surprises with his team selection of late, surely Freddie Potts will be one of the first names on the team sheet against Burnley.

“He played really, really good. He did a fantastic match,” Nuno said on Thursday. “He was balanced, almost all his actions were accurate, and he did what the team needed in the moment. His balance, his presence in the middle of the park…

“He played 100 games in the Championship and League One [on loan at Portsmouth and Wycombe Wanderers]. That’s what made Freddie. Now, I think he is a good option for us.

“We are here to help all the players improve, and Freddie is one of those who has so many things. So much talent. We need to try and [improve him].”