England midfielder Kobbie Mainoo has said that only one Manchester United icon comes to “mind” for what he would consider the textbook Red Devils star.
Kobbie Mainoo is away from Old Trafford with his England teammates ahead of representing the Three Lions at the first World Cup tournament in his career.
The 21-year-old Stockport-born midfielder rescued his place in the Three Lions squad for the 2026 World Cup after Michael Carrick’s return to the Red Devils.
Mainoo had been fighting for Manchester United first-team minutes under Ruben Amorim in the 2025-26 campaign before the Portuguese coach was sacked.
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Kobbie Mainoo breaks down what England icon Wayne Rooney represented as a Man Utd player
Kobbie Mainoo sat down with Manchester United’s official club media and the England midfielder touched on his ‘influences’ amid his developing football career.
The United youth academy product could not overlook the significant impact of Wayne Rooney, who is regarded as one of the best strikers of all time, on him.
Mainoo insisted that former Man Utd captain Wayne Rooney is the biggest example of what a Red Devils player should look like and strive to achieve in their career.
“I feel like, for me, Rooney is like the template of what coaches tell you a United player is,” he said.
“You know, cause he’s so hardworking and tough and technical, could finish, could do everything.
“So, I feel like when the coaches always give examples of what a Manchester United player is, in my mind, I was always moulding that as Rooney.”
If Elliot Anderson is £125m… What is Kobbie Mainoo’s market value right now?
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What Man Utd and England midfielder Kobbie Mainoo deeply admired about Wayne Rooney
United legend Wayne Rooney, who retired in 2021, lifted five Premier League titles, a Champions League, a Europa League, an FA Cup and three League Cups.
The former Everton striker became Man Utd’s all-time leading scorer after he eclipsed Sir Bobby Charlton in the goalscoring charts at Old Trafford.
United star Mainoo explained that Rooney represented the most complete player that he had seen after his work both on the ball and off it as a striker.
“That’s what it looked like to me, just because of how hardworking he was,” he continued.
“How good he was on the ball, how he led the team and stuff like that, the respect he showed.”
Rooney arrived at Old Trafford under Sir Alex Ferguson in 2004 and the Red Devils legend later returned to boyhood club Everton in 2017 for a brief second spell.
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