'Clubs tried to get messages to him' - how Manchester United kept Kobbie Mainoo amid Man City interest

Kobbie Mainoo has a chant in the works to Only You by Yazoo. The final lyrics have graced the cover of a fanzine but the ditty is yet to take off.

"Have you heard about the Stockport kid,

"He's the greatest thing since the Pyramid,

"He's a red and not a blue, he's Mainoo."

Mainoo's hometown is derisively regarded as a City stronghold by United matchgoers. A dormant Twitter account under the guise of Bertie Magoo, the 'Bitter Blue' cartoon character who appeared in the defunct Red Issue fanzine, mentioned Stockport relentlessly.

Gary Neville likened Mainoo to a City midfielder after an immaculate full Premier League debut at a raucous Goodison Park in November. Pep Guardiola once gushed about the "incredible" Nemanja Matic and Fred. Mainoo would warrant a different adjective as he eyes a first senior Manchester derby appearance at the Etihad.

FROM 2022: Impressing Ten Hag and playing with Ronaldo - Mainoo is close to his next breakthrough

READ MORE: Same parking spot and living at home - how Mainoo is keeping his feet on the ground

Phil Foden also hails from Stockport and is the only firmly established local product in the City first-team squad. Guardiola would indubitably swap Mainoo for Kalvin Phillips, as Gareth Southgate could for next month's England squad get-together for friendlies with Belgium and Brazil.

Staff at United have suggested Mainoo might have been poached by City if the academy was neglected, as it was in the post-Ferguson years. Mainoo's FA Youth Cup-winning teammate, Charlie McNeill, defected to City before switching back to United in 2020. The Fletcher twins, Jack and Tyler, headed up Deansgate to United in the summer after nine years in the City academy.

"It is fair to say that the north-west