Harry Maguire of Manchester United thinks that 18-year-old Kobbie Mainoo will become the next Jude Bellingham for England.

Mainoo made his Premier League start for Manchester United in November. He has impressed with his play, especially in the FA Cup win over Liverpool, which caught the attention of Gareth Southgate. The player Maguire has been teaching Mainoo at Old Trafford and said that he is a lot like Bellingham, who has been a force at Real Madrid.

Maguire said, “I don’t see why not,” when asked if Mainoo was ready for the challenges of international football. Obviously, it helps to have played in a lot of tournaments before, but young boys do come in and sometimes play without fear, which helps them do well. There are no worries at all for me. It’s hard to believe he’s only 18. He’s so grown up. He’s a lot like Jude when he was a kid. His behavior shows that he is an adult. It didn’t bother me. Every day, I see how good he is at training. He only wants to do well and work hard. I told him he earned it and told him to keep up the good work and have fun.

“He has everything, and he’s great with the ball.” You can see how he got to play that part, especially for Manchester United. He is very strong and powerful. Listen, this country has a lot of good center-mids right now. These are players who have been to and won a lot of big events, so they know what they can do. I’m sure he’ll keep working hard because he’s a good kid. He and his family are having a great time. We’ll see how things go.”

Maguire’s support for Mainoo is similar to other big steps forward in the past, like Marcus Rashford’s rise to fame before the 2016 Euros. There’s nothing this defender and Rashford won’t do to make Mainoo feel at home in the United and England locker rooms.

“I told him that if he needs anything, he should just text me or ask me about it. He absolutely deserves it.” “This season, he’s been great for us,” he said.

It is part of the top players’ job at Manchester United to bring up players from the youth teams. The club has always been about giving young boys chances. A lot of them learn with us, and we do our best to make them feel welcome. Also, older players have a big part to play in this, and we did that to Kobbie. Making him feel welcome and at ease is very important, even more so now that he is in this group with England.Maguire thinks that United’s recent FA Cup win over Liverpool could be a turning point that gives the team confidence for the rest of the season.

“Obviously, it’s been a tough season for us,” he said. There aren’t too few points in the Premier League, but there should be a lot more. At this point in the season, the five teams ahead of us have a lot more than us. While it’s true that we’ve had a lot of injuries, other teams have too. Losing the Carabao Cup and the Champions League was also upsetting.

“We played well in our Champions League group games, but two red cards really hurt our chances of making it through.” So having a good run in the FA Cup is important, and this is a huge win for us. It gives us hope that we can still win something this season. On Sunday, the fans really wanted something to cheer about when they got home, and it was very important to give them that. And be happy about.”

On Saturday and Tuesday, Maguire is getting ready to play against Brazil and Belgium with the Three Lions at Wembley. After his country duties are over, he will be back in Manchester for a Premier League game against Brentford on March 30.