England and Manchester United teenage star Kobbie Mainoo has the potential to become the ‘best midfielder in the Premier League’.
That is the opinion of former Champions League winner Dietmar Hamann, who has been impressed by Mainoo’s performances for club and country.
Mainoo joined Manchester United at the age of seven and after a decade in the club’s academy made his first-team debut at the start of 2023.
The 19-year-old has made 45 appearances for United since then, establishing himself as a key member of the Old Trafford squad and one of the most highly-rated young players in Europe.
Mainoo’s emergence led to an England call-up in the build-up to Euro 2024 and the teenager made a big impact during the tournament, becoming the youngest Three Lions player to feature in a semi-final of a major tournament and starting the subsequent final against Spain.
Manchester United legends Paul Scholes and Rio Ferdinand have heaped praise on Mainoo, with the former even suggesting he is better than he was at the same age.
Ex-Liverpool midfielder Hamann has joined the voices praising Mainoo and tipped him to become one of the best players in the Premier League in the coming years.
Mainoo missed almost two months of football after suffering a muscular injury in early October but marked his return on Sunday in United’s 4-0 victory over Everton.
‘I think Kobbie Mainoo is a very interesting player,’ Hamann told Genting Casino. ‘The way he played for England in the summer, for a young boy to come in, that was impressive.
‘Last season he scored some important goals. I think Mainoo is a fantastic talent.
‘If you look at the top teams, obviously Declan Rice is another one. It depends whether you see Rice in the holding role or as more of an offensive player. I’ve always seen him as a holding player and would like him to keep it simple.
‘Martin Odegaard, he missed a lot of games for Arsenal over the last few months and that was a very big miss for them because central midfield is the area where games are won and lost.
‘Odegaard can control the tempo of a game and if you can control that engine room; control that midfield, you control games. If you do that, you’ll win more games than you lose.
‘Liverpool are doing that this season. That is a big part of their success so far and Ryan Gravenberch looks like a new signing.
‘Curtis Jones, he has been a revelation. Both players have been squad players at best in the last one or two seasons. They are vital players for the club now and this is what the managerial change has done.
‘There are some fantastic central midfield players, but Mainoo is probably the one I’d be most interested in watching where he goes over the next couple of years.
‘I think Mainoo can defend and attack, which is a good thing. When you play in central midfield with two players, I think it’s very important that you haven’t got similar players.
‘You need players with different qualities that complement each other. I think Mainoo has discipline and if he wants to do it, he could be one of the best holding players. Then again, he gets his shot off. He’s got a trick as well. He can score goals.
‘If you play him next to a Declan Rice, as he does sometimes for England, I think he can play higher. If his future is as a number 8, then I think he will need to get six, seven, or eight goals from open play in a season.
‘I think he’s capable of doing that if he puts his mind to it. I think he has the potential to become one of the best midfielders in England.’
Mainoo helped Manchester United thrash Everton at Old Trafford but will miss their next match against Arsenal after receiving his fifth yellow card of the season during the win.
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