Kobbie Mainoo has been incredible for Manchester United this season and has now named a Manchester United legend he’d have loved to play with.
This season has belonged to Kobbie Mainoo, with the 18-year-old overcoming a bad injury to establish himself as the first name on Erik ten Hag‘s teamsheet.
Manchester United are blessed to have him at the club and the fact he’s been plucked from the academy by Ten Hag is just a testament to how special Carrington is.
Mainoo however is in desperate need of an adequate midfield partner with the current batch simply not cut out.
This already looks to be one of Ineos’ priorities at the club this summer.
But speaking on Wednesday, Mainoo has named an Old Trafford legend as his dream midfield partner.
Let’s find out who…
Kobbie Mainoo raves about Paul Scholes’ qualities
Mainoo was doing a Q&A with club media on Wednesday and one question was asking him about who his dream partner would be from Manchester United past.
“I’d say Scholes. Although there might not be a lot of defending happening between the two of us. But yeah Scholes, definitely.”
Continuing, Mainoo then raved about Scholes praising him as an ‘everything’ player thanks to his all-round quality.
“Everything. His passing, his movement, the way he could finish, his intelligence, yeah he’s a great player.”
Having these two side by side would be quite the midfield, although as Mainoo mentioned, it’d be unlikely to see them together as it’d be a midfield like the one we currently have, lacking defensive security.
Thinking about this pair got us thinking about Scholes’ debut campaign back in 1994/95.
How does Mainoo’s debut campaign compare with Scholes’?
The two are a pair of the finest midfield talents to come out of Carrington and it’s worth comparing how the two got on during their real debut campaign.
Paul Scholes 1994/95 vs Kobbie Mainoo 2023/24
There’s not really a comparison given the two emerged in different roles and Mainoo has played as a six for the majority of his displays.
However, it’s interesting to see how they stack up with Mainoo definitely holding his own as he’s scored three goals in eight games which he’s featured as a more advanced midfielder.
Like Scholes had Roy Keane, Mainoo needs a partner who compliments him and this summer it has to be one of Ineos’ biggest priorities.
Mainoo has a long way to go to even polish the boots of Scholes, however, he is definitely on the right track.