Full of praise, Kobbie Mainoo begins to exploit his full potential with United

Ghana FA chief Randy Abbey has stressed his association are working hard to convince Manchester United youngster Kobbie Mainoo to represent their country over England. Mainoo is the talk of the Premier League at the moment after his stunning introduction to the United first team this season. Big things were expected of the teenager in pre-season however an unfortunate injury in the pre-season clash with Real Madrid in the US postponed his progress.

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Eventually, the 18-year-old returned to the fold in the victory against Everton in November and earned plenty of new admirers. On Thursday night though he put in his first match-winning display. The midfielder showed ability beyond his years as he curled home a fabulous winner to clinch a seven-goal thriller in the West Midlands. Talk is now beginning to turn towards potential international call-ups with Mainoo eligible to represent both England and Ghana.

So far, Mainoo has represented England at U17s, 18s and 19s but that has not stopped Abbey from putting feelers out to see whether the United man would be open to switching allegiances. Speaking to The Times, Ghana FA's executive council member said: "The Ghana Football Association is interested in monitoring, attracting, and persuading all eligible talents for its various national teams.

"Kobbie is definitely one of such incredible talents, and the Association will love to work with him and many like him at home and abroad." Speaking in the aftermath of Mainoo's winner, Erik ten Hag offered words of advice for the teenager. "You see the resilience of the team, especially Kobbie Mainoo, that is brilliant to see," Ten Hag said. "We push him a lot in training and he makes such good progress.

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"He is almost progressing from game to game and this is wonderful to see. I hope he stays calm like he is with his goal. "He is determined, he is a good character and hopefully he can keep going with this progress."