Manchester United’s rising star is striving hard to impress Amroli! If he doesn’t start this Saturday, his chances will fade, and he might leave in the winter transfer window.

According to the British newspaper Manchester Evening News, Manchester United’s new talent, Kobe Meno, is working diligently to earn his first Premier League start this season. During the early September international break, he hired a personal coach for extra training, but Ruben Amroli remained unmoved, keeping him on the bench for two league matches. However, with Casemiro suspended for a red card in the upcoming away game at Brentford this Saturday, Meno sees this as his prime opportunity to break into the starting lineup.

British media reveal that Meno is training very hard at Carrington, doing everything possible to win over Amroli. The United manager has publicly urged the 20-year-old academy graduate to continually raise his standards and improve his performances. According to the Manchester Evening News, besides increasing his training sessions, Meno has also changed his personal chef at home to help enhance his performance levels.

Previously, with injuries to United’s Cunha and Mason Mount, Meno failed to seize the chance as Amroli refused to move captain Bruno Fernandes back to the number 10 role. But now, with Casemiro suspended—who plays in the same position—Meno is eager to become a regular starter for Manchester United again.

However, if Amroli continues to use Bruno Fernandes as part of a 3-4-3 midfield starting lineup, Meno might have no opportunity, since fans find it hard to imagine how the opposition could be easily bypassed through midfield if Fernandes partners the central midfield. Only when either Fernandes or Meno plays alongside Ugarte is a balance between attack and defense possible.

Meno applied for a loan move away from Manchester United during the last week of the summer transfer window, but the club rejected his request. Sources reveal that Meno does not want to leave the club he has supported since childhood permanently; he simply hopes to gain more playing time through a loan spell.

Now, Meno’s agent has hinted to the British media that he is not disappointed by the refusal of his loan request; instead, he is more focused on fighting for a place in Manchester United’s starting eleven so he can represent England at the 2026 World Cup. This is undoubtedly a media strategy to put some pressure on Amroli before the Premier League match. “The young lad is working so hard, how can you ignore him?”

Meno started for England in the 2024 European Championship final, but the new coach Thomas Tuchel has yet to call him up. Tuchel has clearly stated that Meno needs more game time before he can be selected for the national team. Representing England at the 2026 USA-Canada-Mexico World Cup next summer is currently Meno’s major motivation.

So far this season, Meno has not started in any Premier League match. If he cannot get chances when Cunha and Mount are injured, and still misses out during Casemiro’s suspension, it will be clear that he is a permanent substitute this season and will have to apply for another loan in January.

According to Italian transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Manchester United will definitely bring in a new midfielder during the winter window, which will further reduce Meno’s standing. His potential chance lies in Casemiro turning 34 soon and possibly struggling to meet the physical demands of 90 minutes in the Premier League. However, United have no European matches this season and exited the League Cup early, meaning there are hardly any midweek fixtures. In the remaining three months of 2025, apart from the Christmas period, Manchester United only have one midweek game scheduled.

Meno certainly does not want Amroli to sign any new midfielders in January. The midfield players United want are expensive and not easy to acquire mid-season. Even Gallagher from Atletico Madrid, who has played only one La Liga game out of five this season for Diego Simeone’s team, is priced at €60 million (£52.4 million). Mundo Deportivo reports Atletico has no intention of selling cheaply and wants Gallagher to stay; his contract runs until 2029.

Young Manchester United academy players like Meno are currently facing increasing pressure and are generally perceived to have attitude problems. On Wednesday, Manchester United officially announced the appointment of Stephen Torpey as the new academy director. He replaces Nick Cox, who left to join Everton as technical director.

Torpey comes from Brentford and has previously worked at Liverpool and Manchester City. He is an acquaintance of Red Devils’ sporting director Jason Wilcox. After the announcement, the two watched Manchester United’s under-21 team beat Athletic Bilbao 2-1 together from the Old Trafford directors’ box.

The new academy head’s first decision will be whether to adopt the first team coach Amroli’s 3-4-3 formation. Manchester United’s reserve team coach Travis Binnion has not implemented Amroli’s tactical system, which has drawn some criticism from fans who believe a consistent 3-4-3 formation from top to bottom is the logical choice. Former academy director Cox explained that providing young players with “comprehensive training” is very important.