Gareth Southgate says he ‘won’t hesitate’ to give Kobbie Mainoo his England his first appearance after clarifying his decision to change his mind about bringing the Manchester United young talent into his team.
Mainoo, 18, made his debut in the Premier League for Erik ten Hag’s team last November and has become an important player at Old Trafford in a short amount of time, delivering another outstanding performance in the FA Cup victory over Liverpool.
The midfielder was initially left out of the England team for friendly matches against Brazil and Belgium when Southgate announced his 25-man squad last week and was instead included in the Under-21 squad.
However, a few days later, he was called up to the senior team.
When asked about Mainoo’s inclusion, Southgate stated in a press conference on Friday: ‘We’ve been fortunate to have St George’s Park built. This week some of our Under-17s have joined us, our Under-21s were there.
‘You get a club feel so hopefully that transition is as smooth as possible because the players have a better chance of performing at their best level if they feel comfortable off the pitch.
‘With Kobbie, I said last week we were mindful of his development and how quickly we should proceed. You need to try to take the right steps at the right time with young players. But an opportunity came up, and for us, he was the next player in line. We didn’t want to prevent that from happening.’
‘As we anticipated, He has integrated excellently. His level of training has been excellent – we won’t hesitate to put him on the field.’
Mainoo has made 20 appearances for United since joining the team in November.
Jordan Henderson is likely to miss the Brazil match on Saturday, which could provide Mainoo with an opportunity to make his international debut alongside Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham in a talented midfield.
‘We need to observe other players before the Euros,’ Southgate stated.
‘If we were playing weaker teams, you’d still have that question in your mind if they performed well, ‘OK, how will they fare against the next level of competition?’
‘So from our viewpoint, it’s a great exercise and opportunity.’
