it is not just the raw ability and potential of the Manchester United starlet that has marked him out as a potentially generation-defining talent at the Premier League giants.
It is his mentality too. A rock-solid self-discipline, and a ravenous hunger to improve.
Even after opening his Old Trafford account in a moment mere mortals can only dream of – a glorious finish against none other than Manchester United’s arch rivals Liverpool – Kobbie Mainoo was reluctant to get too carried away, insisting that the failure to hang onto yet another lead tempered that excitement somewhat.
Kobbie Mainoo wants to learn from Manchester United team-mate
And while Mainoo appears to be blossoming into the complete midfielder already at the age of just 18, capable not only of setting the tempo but also of wriggling through challenges, breaking the lines and finding the net from long-range, there is one area of his game where the teenager is still keen to develop.
Fortunately for a player who wants to add more defensive awareness to his skillset, Mainoo is sharing a dressing room with one of the most decorated ‘number sixes’ of the 21 century. Casemiro still a veritable fountain of knowledge even if his powers may be waning.
“I think (one thing I can learn is) just to scan even more,” Mainoo tells MUTV. “Because I feel like he (Casemiro) sees things before everyone else does. And, playing with him, sometimes he might give you the ball and you’re not expecting it.
“I think it’s having to just be knowing what he’s thinking and always scanning. So, whatever he thinks is happening next, I can try to be as quick and to be clued up as to what he’s thinking to do next.
“So I can try to get in the right positions and stuff and be around him.”
Casemiro could leave this summer
The more mischievous among you will argue that, on current form, even Derren Brown would struggle to predict Casemiro’s next move, the Brazilian veteran seemingly to think that it was Liverpool wearing red rather than United as he coughed up possession again and again on Sunday.
Casemiro, alongside fellow veterans Raphael Varane and Christian Eriksen, is expected to depart during Ineos’ first summer at the helm. Mainoo, then, may be tasked with taking on an even more senior role in 2024/25.
“I mean, in training, you can see (Casemiro’s awareness) a lot in the way he moves the ball so quickly,” adds Mainoo, who was named Man of the Match on his full England debut in March. “The way he sees these passes that not many other people see.
“So I try to watch him closely and see when he’s looking, when he’s scanning and when he’s looking and what he’s seeing, and try to pick that up in my game so I can be effective as well.”