Kobbie Mainoo's back problem, which sidelined him for England's final World Cup match, is not anticipated to disrupt his pre-season preparations with Manchester United, according to reports.
World Cup absence explained
The 21-year-old midfielder did not feature in a single minute of England's World Cup campaign, which ended in a semi-final defeat to Argentina. Despite midfield injuries to Declan Rice and Jordan Henderson, Mainoo remained an unused substitute. England manager Thomas Tuchel revealed after the third-place play-off against France that Mainoo had suffered a back injury. 'He had a sharp pain in the back within the training and he was not ready to play,' Tuchel said.
Injury severity and recovery timeline
The Athletic reports that Mainoo's injury is typically a one-game issue and is unlikely to affect his pre-season schedule. He is expected to join Manchester United's squad in Dublin on 10 August, with a friendly against Leeds United at Croke Park on 12 August. United then face AC Milan in Poland on 15 August before starting their Premier League campaign against newly-promoted Hull City on 22 August.
Mainoo's role under Carrick
Mainoo missed the first half of the 2025-26 season after being frozen out by former manager Ruben Amorim, but became instrumental under Michael Carrick. He started every game he was available for from mid-January onwards, missing only the defeat to Leeds in April due to injury, and played the full 90 minutes in all but one of those 16 matches.
United's midfield reinforcements
Manchester United have lost Casemiro since the end of the season, while Manuel Ugarte faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines with a knee injury suffered during the World Cup with Uruguay. However, the club has bolstered its midfield options with the signings of Andrey Santos from Chelsea and Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa.
