Manchester United may not be having the best of seasons, but there are certainly some positives they can take into the 2024/25 campaign.
Arguably the biggest positive for the Red Devils this season has been the emergence of Kobbie Mainoo.
In the space of a season, the 18-year-old has gone from an exciting prospect to a player Man United and England could potentially build their future teams around.
Mainoo only made his first Premier League start in November last year, but he has very quickly become one of Manchester United’s main players.
At just 18 years of age, the Red Devils midfielder has already made 23 competitive appearances for the Old Trafford side, and now he has two senior England caps to his name.
In March, Mainoo made his first start for the Three Lions in their friendly against Belgium, and he was head and shoulders above many of the players on the field.
Mainoo now looks like he has a great chance of making the plane to Germany for a Euro 2024 tournament in which England look like genuine contenders.
Federico Macheda, who burst onto the scene for Man United with a crucial winning goal against Aston Villa back in 2009, has now spoken about Mainoo.
What has Federico Macheda said about Manchester United ace Kobbie Mainoo?
The now 32-year-old was tipped for big things at Old Trafford but sadly things didn’t go his way, and he ended up leaving the club permanently in 2014.
Macheda, now playing for Turkish club Ankaragucu, has praised Mainoo and also gave some advice to the teenage prodigy whilst reminiscing on his own time at Old Trafford.
He told The Sun: “The way Mainoo is playing it looks as if he’s been there for ten years. But what’s paramount is that he keeps going.
“He’ll get help because when you play every week people take extra care of you and they make you feel important.”
Macheda went on to say: “If I had scored that goal (against Villa) now I’d have been handed a lot more opportunities.
“Man United’s attacking options between then and now simply don’t compare. In my time it was virtually impossible to be part of that Man United team – even in training.
“The attacking line featured four world-class players in Tevez, Ronaldo, Rooney and Berbatov. Nowadays it’s a lot easier.
“Kobbie’s a top talent but he’s able to show it because he’s playing with consistency. For me, that was impossible.”
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It’s always great when an academy talent breaks into the first team, and even more so when the player in question is a generational talent, as Mainoo seems to be.
Mainoo is pretty much as complete as you can get from a young player. And he’s still at the very start of his career. It’ll be very exciting to see how he progresses in the coming years.
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