Harry Kane sends clear message to Kobbie Mainoo, he agrees with England teammate

Harry Kane has sent a clear message to Kobbie Mainoo after the midfielder’s England cameo against Slovenia earlier this week.

Mainoo, 19, is the youngest player in the England squad for Euro 2024 but has made a strong case for Gareth Southgate to start him in the knockout stages of the competition.

The United midfielder looked sharp when he came on for the second half of the final group game and almost created a winning goal in the final moments of the game.

His well-timed flick found Harry Kane in space, who then found Cole Palmer and the Chelsea winger shot towards goal but was unable to find the back of the net.

Trent Alexander-Arnold and Conor Gallagher have both failed to impress alongside Declan Rice in the midfield and Kane seems to believe that Mainoo impressed when he came into the team.

“Kobbie’s been great, he’s really impressed since he’s been in the England set-up, he’s obviously a fantastic player and still very young but very comfortable on the ball, and likes to receive it under pressure,” the Bayern Munich star told England media.

“He’s got a good balance of the defensive side plus the attacking side, getting close to the forwards and trying to link up, so I thought he had a really good game when he came on.

“Of course it’s not easy for the guys who haven’t had a lot of minutes yet, they’ll have been itching to get on, itching to play and to make an impression. I thought he came in and did that really well.”

He is not the only England player to praise Mainoo’s performance, with Kieran Trippier also labelling the cameo from the United midfielder as “unbelievable”.

England’s next game comes against Slovakia in the round of 16 on Sunday evening.

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