Kobbie Mainoo could be handed his first start for England in Tuesday’s friendly clash against Belgium at Wembley, with Gareth Southgate hugely impressed by the Manchester United youngster.
The 18-year-old was initially left out of the Three Lions’ squad but was promoted from the Under-21s following a brilliant display in United’s FA Cup quarter-final win over Liverpool.
England have also been sweating over a number of injury issues and Jordan Henderson, who missed several training sessions last week with a muscle problem, will not be risked against Belgium.
After coming off the bench in Saturday’s loss to Brazil, Mainoo is now in contention to make his full debut and the teenager has made a big impression on Southgate over the past week.
Asked if Mainoo will start, or whether Jude Bellingham will be dropped into a more withdrawn role alongside Declan Rice, Southgate replied: ‘We have a couple of options with that.
‘We have looked at both of those things in training across the week, so definitely Kobbie has a chance for tomorrow.’
On the precocious United midfielder, he continued: ‘He seems very calm. You can see he is taking everything in.
‘Talking to him tactically, he seems able to take all those concepts on. A lot of young players now, with their academy education, are able to do that.
‘You can see his comfort with the ball and receiving in tight areas. There are a lot of steps being taken in a very short period of time, but you saw in the brief cameo the other day some of the qualities he has.
‘Sometimes, with the really young ones, they are not even thinking about that. It is all flowing and maybe then as you get a bit older you start to think about it a bit more.
‘It is a beautiful, innocent moment when he is just in the flow and lapping up the opportunities as they come.’
He added: ‘Kobbie is still developing. In terms of progress into our squad, he is benefitting because we are not as rich in resources in that area. But we are really happy to see how he has dealt with training, and we see things he can bring already.
‘But I am mindful that we have to look after him and make sure his development is at the right speed but the opportunities are there as well.’
Declan Rice, who is collecting his 50th cap, will captain England against Belgium in the absence of a number of senior players while Ivan Toney will be given the chance to impress up top.
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