I was Manchester United’s best midfielder – Kobbie Mainoo is better than me

Two of Manchester United’s best-ever midfielders have explained how they feel that young star Kobbie Mainoo has skills that make him better than them at his age.

England are through to the quarterfinals of the 2024 European Championships following a tight 2-1 win over Slovakia on Sunday afternoon.

Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane‘s goals on either side of the 90-minute whistle secured their passage into the next round, where they will face Switzerland in the final eight of the competition.

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Although many England players were criticised for their display, Manchester United‘s Kobbie Mainoo, who made his first competitive start for his country, was nothing short of fantastic.

Speaking after the game, Roy Keane, who is widely regarded as one of United’s greatest-ever midfielders, has made a huge call about Mainoo – he believes that Mainoo can already do things on the pitch that took him 10 years to learn.

“You see the stuff he is doing, I played in that position, but he’s doing stuff that probably took me 10 years to learn,” he told ITV following the win over Slovakia.

“He’s obviously had a great foundation at Man United, and he’s getting into good habits, but we’ve seen in these big games – and when you’re playing for Man United, every game is a big game for Man United, so he’ll cope with all that.”

The notion of being such a great player at such a young age is one also shared by Keane’s teammate, Paul Scholes, who is also regarded as one of the best midfielders to ever play at Old Trafford.

“Read a few comparisons between me and this kid last week,” Scholes said on Instagram last month. “Don’t waste your time, he is 10 times the player I was at 19.

“Just love the way he receives the ball, the calmness, the awareness of what’s around him and of course big goals in big games. This boy is special. And he’s a f***ing red.”

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