Wayne Rooney was full of praise for Manchester midfielder Kobbie Mainoo during the recent Premier League clash against Everton at Old Trafford.
Man United returned to winning ways with a 2-0 win over the Toffees at home. Alejandro Garnacho was the key architect for the victory, winning 2 penalties in the opening half. Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford converted the spot kicks.
In the lead-up to the game, Rooney was speaking to TNT Sports and he had fond words to say about Mainoo, who has had a brilliant debut campaign under manager Erik ten Hag.
The legendary striker said that Mainoo is incredible for such a young age. He added that he has shown maturity and compared him with 2014 World Cup winner Bastian Schweinsteiger.
He said: “I think he’s incredible for such a young age, with the maturity he’s shown. When you see any young players come into the first team they’re normally a bit raw or play off the cuff. He reminds me of a young Bastian Schweinsteiger with how he plays, and he always seems to make the right decisions. He has a very bright future.”
Mainoo has been rated highly from his time in the academy. He had a brilliant start to pre-season with United last summer, but suffered an unfortunate knee injury against Real Madrid.
This delayed his introduction to the first-team squad under ten Hag and it was always anticipated that the youngster would break into the manager’s plans as soon as he returned to full fitness.
The wonderkid started off from the no.6 role for Man United, but he has moved into the no.8 position in recent weeks with Casemiro operating from the defensive midfield position for the club.
The future looks very bright for Mainoo as well as Alejandro Garnacho. Rasmus Hojlund has also been brilliant in his first season.
United are far from challenging for the Premier League title as of now, but their fortunes seem to be changing with the number of quality young players in the squad with tremendous potential.
With new investment coming through Sir Jim Ratcliff, the onus could be on adding more emerging talents with the view to building a young squad capable of competing for the league crown.
