‘I’d be happy with…’: Scholes names dream midfield partner for Mainoo who can ‘handle’ UCL test

Paul Scholes says he’d be ‘happy’ if Manchester United entered the 2026/2027 campaign with a midfield partnership of Elliot Anderson and Kobbie Mainoo.

In fairness, wouldn’t all United fans?

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Elliot Anderson: The state of play amid growing interest

Whether that’s a realistic prospect, however, remains to be seen.

The Red Devils will be at the front of the queue for Anderson when the window opens next month, but if reports in recent weeks are anything to go by, Manchester City are favourites to prise him from Nottingham Forest.

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Not only will they be able to meet whatever price tag Forest set, City will also likely grant the 23-year-old his desired wages; it’s thought he currently earns around £40,000 per week at the City Ground.

On the other hand, INEOS introduced a salary cap for the squad when they arrived in M16 just over two years ago in order to prevent players from earning exorbitant wages that don’t reflect their performances on the pitch, which may deter some targets.

That being said, there will be some acknowledgement behind the scenes that Anderson could well occupy a starting spot at United for the coming seasons, eventually turning into a perfect successor for seasoned veteran Casemiro.

What did Scholes have to say about Anderson?

Scholes seemingly thinks the England international is the man to help lead the Reds to glory, as he told talkSPORT this morning: “I think it would (Anderson would be my first choice).

“I really liked him when he was at Newcastle [United]. Well, Newcastle had to sell him because of the PSR stuff. But what I’ve seen of him has been nothing short of brilliant, really.

“What he’s done for Forest has been really good; in the Europa League, he’s still got to go to that next level, he’s done it with England, well, England games are very hard to gauge because I don’t think they’re playing the best competition until they get to the World Cup when those bigger games come and we’ll get a better idea.

“He’ll still have to test himself in the Champions League, but he looks to me like he’d be able to handle it. Absolutely no problem.

“But as I say, I think one or two will be needed, not just the one. But Anderson and Mainoo, I think I’d be happy with that for the start of next season.”