Gary Lineker has joked that Kobbie Mainoo should consider ‘suing’ Ruben Amorim for ‘taking a year out of his career’ when the Portuguese was in charge of Manchester United.

Mainoo found himself effectively frozen out of United’s starting XI, with Amorim pitting United’s 20-year-old academy star against club captain Bruno Fernandes.

All 14 of Mainoo’s Premier League games this season under Amorim had been substitute appearances – and there was even talk of the midfielder leaving Old Trafford ahead of the January transfer window.

But Mainoo has experienced a dramatic turnaround since Michael Carrick took over the reins last month, starting and impressing in all four of the Red Devils’ wins against Manchester City, Arsenal, Fulham and Tottenham.

United’s remarkable 100 per cent record under Carrick has seen the club rise into the top four and just three points off third-placed Aston Villa.

‘Do you know what? If I was Kobbie Mainoo – and I say this in jest – I’d be thinking about whether I should sue him [Amorim] or not,’ ex-England striker Lineker said on The Rest Is Football podcast following United’s latest victory over Spurs.

‘He’s taken a year out of that kid’s career. This kid...