Kobbie Mainoo has taken the world by storm since making his Premier League starting debut against Everton at Goodison Park last year.

Since living up to expectations in his first year in the sport, Mainoo finished last season playing in and winning the FA Cup final with manchester unitedas well as playing a key role in England’s second place finish at the European Championship in Germany.

While in camp, Mainoo formed a good partnership with fellow Mancunian Cole Palmer, and the pair became quite competitive in their time off the field.

Speaking to British GQ, Palmer stated: “I’m better at table tennis, he’s better at paddle tennis,” to which Mainoo responded: “Don’t believe it. Table tennis!?”

Padel became quite popular in the English base of Blankenheim, in Germany, and Phil Foden and Adam Wharton also became involved with the duo.

On the field, Mainoo offers something different to his compatriots, with qualities we haven’t often seen in English midfielders in years past.

“I like to watch Busquets, his way of turning. Players like Seedorf, Modric. Players like Yaya Touré; “I like the way he plays,” he said.

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Mainoo’s most impressive attribute is his resistance to pressure and his ability to retain the ball. He rarely makes wrong decisions in possession.

He is seen as someone who plays quite spontaneously. He said: “I don’t think about it too much. It’s more of a moment thing. If I check, I see a guy here, so I’ll turn this way. Or if I don’t have to do that, I can just bounce. “I don’t think I’m going to turn here… it’s more that if the defender gives me an option, then I’ll take it.”

United have enjoyed a long-standing relationship with youth players, with 250 academy graduates making their first team debuts dating back to 1937. Since October of that year, United have had one academy graduate in the squad of the day of the match.

Mainoo believes United’s insistence on youth is what gave him his chance.

He said: “I feel that at United it is very much in the history that they play with young players, since the Busby Babes. “There’s a big writing on the wall (at Carrington) that says, ‘If they’re good enough, they’re old enough.’”

Mainoo’s biggest professional success to date is the FA Cup final, where United beat the odds at Wembley in May to beat city rivals Manchester City.

About the triumph, Mainoo remembers: “I remember the feeling around us was that no one expected us to win. They just discarded us. I used it as motivation.”

“I won’t say it made the season a success for us as a team, but we definitely needed it. We couldn’t go into the summer with nothing, just finishing where we finished on the table. A trophy brings hope. But it definitely didn’t make the season a success.”

In the end, Mainoo may have been relieved to see Erik ten Hag leave Old Traffordwith the Dutchman delirious insisting that he had achieved great success during his time at the club after winning the Carabao Cup and FA Cup in successive seasons.