Alan Shearer agrees with Ian Wright on Kobbie Mainoo stance after Manchester United rise

Alan Shearer has agreed with Ian Wright's suggestion that Kobbie Mainoo could be in contention to make Gareth Southagte's next England squad.

Mainoo is enjoying a breakthrough season with the United and has started the club's last nine Premier League matches, helping fire Erik ten Hag's side up the table in the process.

The teenage midfielder has been a standout performer in recent weeks alongside Rasmus Hojlund and has shown maturity beyond his years, which has quickly seen him become one of the first names on the teamsheet. Evidently impressed with the rapid rise of Mainoo, both Shearer and Wright believe the Stockport-born star has a real chance of forcing his way into Southgate's plans for next month's friendlies against Brazil and Belgium and possibly this summer's European Championships in Germany.

“Very, very good player,” Shearer said of Mainoo on The Rest Is Football Podcast. “The pressure that comes with playing for such a huge football club and the way he has just come in and just handled it so easily has to be a great positive. He has to be in his [Southgate’s] thoughts.”

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Echoing this sentiment, Wright yesterday tweeted: "Kobbie Mainoo has to be in the next England squad. Such maturity in chaotic conditions that we've not seen from an England player in a long time. Impressed every time I watch him."

Of the view the 18-year-old may not be the last academy graduate to force their way into first-team thinking at Old Trafford, Ten Hag recently told reporters: "That is about trust. The manager trusts the staff with