Southgate Considers Taking Young Players for England National Team at Euro 2024

Kobbie Mainoo was eyeed by England Manager Gareth Southgate (Instagram/@cobbie).

JAKARTA - England National Team Manager, Gareth Southgate, is currently monitoring several young players who are performing well in the 2023/2024 Premier League.

He expressed his intention to take four new young players to strengthen the England national team at Euro 2024.

One thing that caught Southgate's attention was Manchester United's young star, Kobbie Mainoo.

Apart from that, there are also young Liverpool and Manchester City players, namely Harvey Elliott and Rico Lewis. Another name is Archie Gray who is impressive with Leeds United in the 2023/2024 Championship.

However, Southgate has not included the four young players for the upcoming friendly matches against Brazil and Belgium.

He still relies on old faces such as Declan Rice, Jordan Henderson, Conor Gallagher, Jude Bellingham, and James Maddison.

"There are some players who are doing very well, like Kobbie Mainoo, Harvey Elliott, Rico Lewis. Archie Gray is doing very well at Leeds."

"I think (Mainoo) performed brilliantly as a young player. We are never slow in bringing young players into the senior team.

"But he's only had a few games. So you have to be very careful. We felt we had to give him space to develop at his own pace."

“We don't feel he's in the same number of games as Jude (Bellingham) and Bukayo (Saka) at that stage.”

"It's just that he has extraordinary experience at Manchester United and seems to have very good character," said Southgate as reported by The Sun.

Looking at the names of the four young players, Southgate is paying more attention to Mainoo. However, the manager believes it is still too early to give him a place in the senior England national team.

However, it is not impossible for Southgate to change his mind. At least one of the four young players will be taken to Germany.

Mainoo is certainly at the forefront. Note that the 18 year old player can show consistent performance until the end of the 2023/2024 Premier League season.

The midfielder must prove himself. Even though he doesn't have regular flying time like Bellingham and Saka as pillars of the club, Mainoo must be the difference that makes him worthy of entering the Three Lions senior team.

So far, Mainoo has been a regular in Manchester United's midfield under Erik ten Hag this season.

He locked up his place by starting in the last 12 matches of the 2023/2024 Premier League.

Mainoo also scored impressive statistics. The defensive midfielder has contributed two goals this season.

Such impressive performances mean Mainoo will earn a three-fold pay rise in less than a year following his latest contract extension.

In detail, he will sign a contract for 60,000 pounds per week.

Well, apart from that, the problem is that Mainoo has two passports. Apart from being British, he is also a citizen of Ghana.

If Southgate refuses to give him the opportunity to enter the England national team at Euro 2024, there is a possibility that Mainoo will switch to Ghana.

The thing is, so far Mainoo has never represented England in a competitive match.