Gareth Southgate, the manager of England, stated that he is willing to give Manchester United’s young player Kobbie Mainoo his first appearance in the upcoming friendly matches against Brazil or Belgium. The national team will play against Brazil at Wembley tonight and face Belgium at the same venue on Tuesday. The two friendly matches will be the last games before Southgate selects his squad for the upcoming European Championship in Germany. Mainoo, who has performed exceptionally well for United this season, was a recent addition to the squad and joined the first team on Tuesday. He was originally not included in the squad chosen by Southgate just over a week ago, but it was later confirmed that he would be receiving his first call-up to the Under-21s team. How United’s lineup for next season could look with the addition of three new players. Southgate has stated that he was able to bring the Stockport-born midfielder onto the first-team squad due to a chance opportunity, commending the connection between the senior squad and the youth teams at St George’s Park. He mentioned during a pre-game press conference on Friday that the construction of St George’s Park has been a great asset. This week, a few of our Under-17 players have joined us to train, while our Under-21 players were also present. Building a strong team unity is important for a smooth transition, as players perform better when they feel at ease. Regarding Kobbie, last week we discussed being mindful of his progress and determining the appropriate pace for his development. You must take the correct actions at the appropriate moments with young athletes. However, when the chance arose, he was the next player we chose to include in the team. We didn’t want to prevent that from occurring. “Just as we expected, he has integrated perfectly.
