By Kieran King

Copyright manchestereveningnews

Kobbie Mainoo has been told he has got to be asking himself serious questions regarding his lack of game time at Manchester United so far this season. The 20-year-old has failed to start a single Premier League game for the Reds this season and was named on the bench for Sunday’s 3-0 thrashing at Manchester City . With Ruben Amorim’s side looking for a route back into the contest, Mainoo was introduced in the 62nd minute and impressed when he came on. During his time on the pitch, England international Mainoo had 25 touches, completed two key passes, recorded a 100 per cent success rate from his 17 passes, won three out of three duels and made one dribble. There have since been calls from some United supporters for the Stockport-born starlet to start against Chelsea on Saturday, as the Reds look to record just their second win of the season. He has played just 73 minutes of Premier League football this term, having remained as an unused substitute against Arsenal and Fulham. Delivering his verdict on Mainoo, ex-Arsenal and Aston Villa midfielder Paul Merson told Sky Sports: “If you’re him and you’re sitting there watching that and not playing, something is going on. “I don’t know what’s happening in training, what is happening behind the scenes, but the kid has got to be asking himself serious questions and how he is not playing in that football team. “He came on the other day against Man City and I thought he did well, at least he had a go. But he needs to be playing for them from the start, but I don’t know why. “For me, it’s quite worrying because the kid has got talent, he is a Man United lad, come through the ranks and he is not playing. He is the only one that can answer that.” Last month, Mainoo expressed his desire to leave United before the end of the summer window . But the Reds blocked his request, and he ended up remaining at Old Trafford beyond the transfer deadline. Then on Tuesday talkSPORT reported that Newcastle are monitoring Mainoo’s situation ahead of a potential move. Eddie Howe is known to be an admirer and is considering testing United’s resolve in January. Merson isn’t the first pundit to question Mainoo’s game time at Old Trafford. Indeed, Gary Lineker offered his verdict on the England man on Monday, claiming that his failure to get into the United starting line-up is concerning. Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Lineker said: “It really worries me the way Kobbie Mainoo has been kind of almost dismissed. He’s such an incredible young talent, local boy as well doing really well. “I mean, I thought when he came on, he did really quite well. I don’t get it. I don’t know whether there’s something that we don’t know about or something like that, but it’s slightly baffling to me.” Here at The Manchester Evening News, we are dedicated to bringing you the best Manchester United coverage and analysis. Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest United news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe. You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day’s biggest stories. And, finally, if you would rather listen to our expert analysis then make sure to check out our Manchester is Red podcast, featuring The Samuel Luckhurst Show and The Midweek Debate. Our shows are available on all podcast platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts , and you can also watch along on YouTube .