Southgate lauds Mainoo talent as England group together for Euro 2024

England manager Gareth Southgate has no doubt over the talent of Kobbie Mainoo after watching the Manchester United youngster flourish this campaign.

Mainoo was on target in Saturday’s FA Cup final victory over rivals Manchester City as Man Utd triumphed 2-1 at Wembley Stadium.

Having caressed past Stefan Ortega in the first half, 19-year-old Mainoo became the first English teenager to score in an FA Cup final since Steve MacKenzie for City against Tottenham in 1981.

That match-winning finish capped a fine breakthrough campaign for Mainoo, who has been rewarded with a place in England’s preliminary squad for Euro 2024.

As the Three Lions joined together for their pre-tournament training camp, Southgate reserved special praise for the exciting England midfielder.

“The curious thing about young talent is how will they cope under pressure,” Southgate said in an interview with England’s media channels.

“You can see the technical ability but it’s about how tactically aware they are, how mature, ability to cope with big matches.

“When you’re playing for Manchester United, you’re always under the spotlight. He’s shown that with them, with us in March.

“We’ve never been afraid to put young players in. If players are good enough we’re not so concerned about their age.

“Kobbie has had an amazing season and it was fabulous for him to finish the season with a goal and a trophy.”

Welcome to the #ThreeLions, lads! pic.twitter.com/MwwRp7kzkg

— England (@England) May 29, 2024

Decisions remain for Southgate, though, as the England boss prepares to cut his 33-man squad to just 26 players ahead of the upcoming tournament in Germany.

He added: “It will be extremely difficult. It was very difficult to leave players out of this 33 and, of course, there are some younger players coming in with slightly different expectations to this camp.

“But there are going to be some difficult calls to make. We’re hoping that not too many of these calls are decided by injury and we’ve got the strongest possible squad to pick from.”

England will play warm-up friendlies against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iceland next week, before starting their group-stage campaign in a June 16 meeting with Serbia.

Denmark and Slovenia will follow for England, who will hope to go one better than their runners-up finish to Italy in the last European Championship three years ago.

It’s that time. The #ThreeLions have arrived! pic.twitter.com/yXKwqPfhpc

— England (@England) May 29, 2024

“There are so many aspects to being with this group of people that I love,” Southgate continued, looking ahead to the upcoming international tournament.

“Ultimately we’re trying to form a team and a group that have got to push each other and be there for each other. There’s a team dynamic that’s crucial to winning that we have to find.

“People will have slightly different roles that they will with their clubs. At their club, all of these guys are pretty much the first choice on the team sheet, so some have different roles in the next few weeks.

“The challenge of winning the games and the excitement of seeing our fans out there in some of the biggest occasions in world football is why you’re in the game really. That’s what we’re looking forward to.”