Manchester United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo has received his first call-up to the England squad for the upcoming International break.
The Three Lions have friendlies against Brazil and Belgium in what will be their final games before Southgate names his squad for Euro 2024.
United academy graduate and standout performer, Mainoo has been capped by England at under-17s, under-18s and under-19s level and the late addition to the senior group caps a great week following an impressive performance against Liverpool in Sunday’s epic 4-3 FA Cup quarter-final win.
Earlier, Gareth Southgate praised Mainoo when addressing pressmen over his initial decision to leave him out of the squad.
He said, “I think Kobbie is doing brilliantly for a young player,” said Southgate. “We’re never slow to put a young player into the seniors, but he’s only had a handful of games. You have to be careful in making those decisions at the right time, and ideally we should allow him the space to develop at his own speed.
“He’s not at the point in terms of number of games that Jude [Bellingham] or Bukayo [Saka] were when they first came in, but I repeat – he’s doing really well, he’s a good footballer, you can see that, and he’s getting some fabulous experience with Man Utd and looks a good character.”
