Paul Merson has paid tribute to Kobbie Mainoo’s ‘amazing’ impact at Manchester United with the teenager opening his Premier League account with a 97th minute winner away to Wolves on Thursday.
Whisper it, but Manchester United might have just found the Frenkie de Jong-style midfielder Erik ten Hag so desperately wanted at Old Trafford, all without spending a single penny.
Is there anything Kobbie Mainoo can’t do? We already knew about the teenager’s press-resistant qualities, his immaculate close control, his unshakeable mindset, and a passing range which would not have looked out of place in that world-conquering 2010 Spain vintage.
But Mainoo the goalscorer? This was not a side of his game we expected to see so early into the Carrington graduate’s Red Devils career, Mainoo netting his first senior goal against Newport County in the FA Cup and following it up – just days later – with a sublime run and finish any midfielder in Manchester United’s storied Premier League history would have been proud to call their own.
Kobbie Mainoo saves Manchester United’s skin
“(That Wolves wondergoal) took the pressure of Ten Hag majorly. I dread to think how many times they’ve been two goals up this season and not won the game. That was a big goal. A big goal in Man United’s season,” Paul Merson, formerly of England, Arsenal and Aston Villa, tells Sky Sports.
“I can’t talk highly enough of the lad. He’s been absolutely amazing. For 18 years of age, he’s playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world who is in scrutiny every single day. If that had finished 3-3 the other day, it would have made headlines! Front and back page probably!
“Brilliant, fair play to him.”
A potential £100 million talent for free
Mainoo only made his top-flight bow in November – a game best remembered for that finish from fellow academy graduate Alejandro Garnacho – but already looks like a nailed-on presence in Ten Hag’s best XI.
Ask yourselves this; how much would Man United have had to pay to bring in a midfielder of Mainoo’s potential and skillset from outside Old Trafford? £50 million? £60 million? More, probably, when you consider that Chelsea stumped up nine-figure sums for both Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo in 2023.
“He is a big talent,” United captain Bruno Fernandes tells TNT Sports. “I have seen him play for the under-18s and I said, a couple of years ago, the name of Kobbie without knowing if he would come and play for the first team.”
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