Manchester United’s Kobbie Mainoo is heading to Euro 2024, but where does he rank among the best teenagers in the competition?
Last season more than most, it was apparent at Manchester United that youth prevailed. Alejandro Garnacho, Rasmus Hojlund, and Mainoo, were all electric in red.
Mainoo was the biggest shock, having been relatively unknown by many going into the 23/24 campaign. Now, he’ll head to Euro 2024 with his country, in the hopes of bringing football home. The stuff of dreams for the teenager.
So how does he fare against the other teenagers heading to Germany? Here is where we rank Mainoo among the five best.
5 – Arda Guler
Arda Guler is tipped to have a big tournament with Turkey. The Real Madrid superstar has a huge point to prove with Turkey.
Rio Ferdinand’s dark horses, Turkey have a fantastic squad brimming with young talent, with Guler at the heart of that.
He faces Portugal, Georgia and the Czech Republic in Group F. They have a good chance of advancing to the knockout phases.
4 – Joao Neves
Manchester United-linked Joao Neves is next up. He ranks fourth in our list of teenagers. The Portuguese midfielder has had a fantastic breakthrough campaign with Benfica, which has caused a number of European clubs to take note.
That includes Manchester United, who have already seemingly made a bid for the 19-year-old. However, this is nowhere near the £102m asking price the Liga Portuguesa side would like.
He could very well feature from the off for Portugal, so Manchester United fans will be keeping a close eye on him throughout the duration of the tournament.
3 – Kobbie Mainoo
We have Kobbie ranled third. Which we believe is fair. Despite his meteoric rise in the Premier League for the Red Devils, he still has a lot to prove.
Euro 2024 is absolutely huge for him. With England one of the favourites to win the entire competition, the 19-year-old has the chance to go down in history in England folklore.
Baby steps, though. There still is a chance he won’t be in the starting XI, with Connor Gallagher and Trent Alexander Arnold also rumoured to partner Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice.
2 – Warren Zaïre-Emery
Warren Zaïre-Emery just misses out on the top spot, and what a player he is set to be. At just 18 years old, he has been chosen to represent France in a squad simply stacked with talent.
Whether he plays is a different story, but to even be included is a testament to his abilities. He’s definitely going to be a world-beater in future for Paris Saint Germain.
But he doesn’t quite get the top spot of being the best teenager at Euro 2024.
1 – Lamine Yamal
The best teenager at Euro 2024 is also the youngest – Lamine Yamal has been an absolute revelation since bursting onto the scene with Barcelona.
At international level, he became the youngest player and youngest goalscorer for Spain’s men’s senior team in a European Championship qualifying win against Georgia back in September 2023. He has since gone on to score another in six more games.
At just 16 years old. The sky is the limit. He is going to dazzle for Spain in Germany.