BREAKING Manchester United star Kobbie Mainoo earns first England call-up

Manchester United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo has earned his first call-up to the England senior squad.

The youngster, who starred in United's 4-3 win over Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Sunday, was initially scheduled to join the England Under-21 squad over this current international break. However, the Football Association [FA] has announced he will now team up with the seniors.

England face Brazil at Wembley on Saturday before hosting Belgium at the same venue next Tuesday. Both fixtures are friendly encounters, as the Three Lions continue their preparations for the European Championship in Germany this summer.

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Mainoo, who also qualifies to play for Ghana, has previously represented England at Under-17 and Under-19 level, meaning he has completely bypassed the Under-21s. There has been an increasing clamour for him to be selected by boss Gareth Southgate amid his impressive performances for United this season.

Mainoo was not included within the England squad announced by Southgate last week, with the Three Lions boss suggesting he had not earned enough game time as of yet.

He said: "I think that he's doing brilliantly for a young player and we're never slow to put a young player into seniors. But he's only had a handful of games and you have to be very careful development-wise in making those decisions at the right time.

"So we think ideally, we should allow him that space to develop at his own speed. He's not at the point in terms of number of games that Jude (Bellingham) and Bukayo (Saka) were when they came in for the first time.

"But I repeat: he's doing really well for a young player.