Youngster Kobbie Mainoo has boosted his chances of soon making his first appearance of the season for Manchester United following two outings for England’s Under-19s this week.
The midfielder, who made his senior debut for United back in January, starting their 3-0 Carabao Cup quarter-final success over Charlton Athletic, has featured for the Three Lions youngsters’ during their trip to Marbella in Spain. After appearing as a substitute in Wednesday’s 6-0 win over Romania, he started Saturday’s triumph over Japan.
Donning the No.10 shirt, Mainoo started in the centre of midfield and stored 76 minutes under his belt before being replaced by Tottenham Hotspur youngster Jamie Donley. The latter made a telling contribution, scoring the winner in the final minute of regulation time to seal a 3-2 win for Simon Rusk’s team.
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Mainoo, who replaced Donley after 60 minutes against Romania three days earlier, has stored more than 90 minutes worth of football under his belt during the international break so far. England’s Under-19s will conclude their stay in Marbella with a clash against Mexico on Tuesday evening.
Mainoo has, of course, been building up his fitness levels in recent weeks in pursuit of a return to Erik ten Hag’s first-team plans. He suffered an ankle injury back in July and has not featured for United’s first-team since.
He has been named on the bench for each of the Reds’ last three Premier League matches but has not been called upon by Ten Hag. Despite that, he has featured at youth level for United recently, playing the full duration of the Under-19s’ 2-2 draw with FC Copenhagen in the UEFA Youth League earlier this month.
Having already stored more minutes under his belt during this current international break, it should only boost his chances of featuring when United travel to Goodison Park to face Everton next Sunday. The Reds will make the short trip to Merseyside light on numbers in midfield after Christian Eriksen joined Casemiro on the sidelines with a knee injury.
Mainoo, who is widely renowned as the most exciting talent within United’s ranks, will be hoping to play against Mexico in midweek, before returning to Carrington and linking back up with his United teammates ahead of the clash with Everton. He has made three senior appearances for the Reds so far, only one of which has been in the Premier League.