Manchester United players have had an encouraging summer overall when it comes to their teams at the international tournament.
While some, like Portugal, fell below expectations, United players still did well and should come back to the club full of confidence and hope.
However, Kobbie Mainoo has been one player whose stock has risen the most. He went to his national side this summer as a rotational and borderline option but will come to United as arguably one of the best in the world.
Needless to say, the world of football can’t stop raving about him, and former Manchester City man Micah Richards has now added to the list of praise he’s receiving after another virtuoso display.
Richards can’t stop raving about Kobbie Mainoo
Mainoo continued his sterling form this Euros after another masterful midfield performance which saw England eliminate the Netherlands in the semi-finals.
Fans compared Mainoo to footballing legends, while the national press can’t get enough of him either. Mainoo also set an all-time record in the process as the accolades keep coming in.
It is one of the rare cases where the player’s achievements are coming quicker than the praise for it. Former Manchester City man Micah Richards was eager to board the train for it too.
Richards waxed lyrical about Mainoo’s displays this summer on the Rest is Football podcast and tipped his hat to his “mind-blowing rise” to the top in quick time.
He said: “It’s actually mind-blowing. I know, and I don’t want to go overboard, but for someone who has not really been in the England setup, he was supposed to play the year before at Man United, but he got a bad injury.
That injury arguably hurt United the most, considering how Mainoo played after returning from it, taking to senior football like he had been there all along. Richards echoes that sentiment.
He said: “He’s so elegant on the ball. It can drop his shoulder. It can drive forward. And he’s just so calm. He’s playing like he’s a 35-year-old veteran of the game. And he’s so young. He’s just been a real key part to that spark that England needed, not just in midfield, but the team needed in terms of adding a different dynamic to what we needed.”
Host Gary Lineker agreed with the assessment, comparing his rise to England’s opponent in the final, Lamine Yamal, terming it a “tournament of emerging stars”.
Lineker said: “He’s [Mainoo] incredible. I mean, we talked, didn’t we, about Lamine Yamal, and obviously he’s unbelievably talented. But in a different sort of way Mainoo is incredibly impressive and another teenager.
“It’s kind of a tournament of emerging stars, which is something that you want to see…I think he won the man of the match in that final [FA Cup]. Nothing seems to phase him. Fearlessness of youth, I guess.”
The perfect midfielder
Mainoo seems to have all the skills that would be in a midfielder if someone were to create a perfect midfielder in a laboratory.
From taking the ball on the half turn, to being extremely press-resistant and progressive in his passing, he has knit the whole team together, for club and country.
Not only in attack, but even in defence, he has the kind of positional intelligence and anticipation that is difficult to teach and only comes with age and experience.
Add to that the intangibles, like professionalism, confidence, and determination to succeed, and Mainoo truly looks like a generational talent in the making who’s arguably already world-class.
Another win for the Manchester United academy and with his talent and time on his side, he has the potential to write his name in history books for club and country.