Luke Shaw has been talking one of of Manchester United’s most exciting youth prospects.
Arguably the most exciting young talent to rise through the ranks with the Red Devils since the Class of ’92, three decades ago, Kobbie Mainoo continues to shine.
There was a moment in the Euro 2024 quarter-final for England which summed up his quality. He looked in danger for a brief moment as he prepared to receive the ball inside his own half with a few Switzerland players closing him down. But, with a trademark swivel of his hips and a burst of acceleration, Mainoo was away.
Leaving the opposition for dead, Manchester United’s number 37 turned on a sixpence and drove up the pitch before playing a typically composed pass out to the wing.
Press-resistant, purposeful, and blessed both with speed of thought and fleet of foot, Mainoo only made his England debut in March but it was moments like this which explain why he is already something of a nailed-on starter both for club and country at the age of just 19.
To paraphrase former Three Lions striker Stan Collymore, Mainoo has ’embarrassed’ his more experienced team-mates at times.
But for Luke Shaw, who burst onto the senior stage himself when still a teenager, there was never any doubt that the unflappable Mainoo would succeed in taking his startling United from onto the international stage.
Kobbie Mainoo now a star for Manchester United and England
“The growth is scary really,” Shaw, a team-mate of Mainoo’s both for the Red Devils and the Three Lions, tells Beanyman Sport. “It’s been really quick for him. When I first saw Kobbie, he was in and out of the first-team training, but you could really see the qualities he had.
“He came away on pre-season and was unfortunate to get an injury, which maybe set him back a bit, but it didn’t stop him. I think his qualities have shown. I don’t see him as a young lad anymore and I think he’s one of our main players.
“For me, he’s got the world at his feet. He can do everything, he just needs to stay level-headed and keep working hard.
“He can honestly achieve anything. I’m not surprised at how easily he’s taken to it (at England) because he did it with United. He came out of nowhere and took it at ease.
“It hasn’t surprised me really, everybody knows his qualities and it was just about getting him in the team and once that happened, it was about showing how important he can be.
“It’s a big pat on the back for him really, that what he’s done so far has been really good.”
Mainoo must start as England face Netherlands
Mainoo has only made two competitive starts for England but he must surely be one of the first names on Gareth Southgate’s team sheet for Wednesday’s semi-final with the Netherlands.
The Stockport-born schemer’s remarkable composure and his varied passing range will be key if England are to win the midfield battle against the line-breaking talents of Jerdy Schouten and the ball-carrying excellence of AC Milan’s Tijjani Reijnders.
Rio Ferdinand, speaking on his Vibe with Five podcast, feels Euro 2024 has been the tournament of the teens; Mainoo one of the competition’s stand-out talents alongside Turkey’s Arda Guler and Spain whizzkid Lamine Yamal.
“Kobbie Mainoo, Arda Guler – the boy who carried the Turkish team on his back almost (vs Austria in the round-of-16), was magnificent – and then Yamal,” the United legend said when picking his breakout international stars of Euro 2024..
“Them three have been like super outstanding. I don’t think I’ve ever seen three teenagers in a tournament come to the fore like this.”
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