Kobbie Mainoo deserves the role Manchester United struggled to fill last season

Recent Manchester United pre-season tours have marked a breakthrough for an academy starlet: Andreas Pereira in 2018, Mason Greenwood in 2019 and Zidane Iqbal in 2022. Or perhaps it's a false dawn.

2023 is becoming the summer of Kobbie Mainoo. That Mainoo will be in a Houston hotel while most of his FA Youth Cup-winning teammates are in San Diego preparing for cameos in a Disney+ episode of Welcome to Wrexham highlights his progress. Forget Andy Cannon and Jacob Mendy, Mainoo may be pitted against Bellingham and Camavinga at another stadium that will host World Cup matches in three years.

Amid the enthusiasm surrounding Mainoo, Erik ten Hag is keeping his emotions in check. He paused to chat informally with some of us in the mixed zone at the MetLife Stadium on Saturday evening and a colleague quipped how assured Mainoo looked. "You think?" Ten Hag replied.

It almost gave the impression Ten Hag was not convinced. This grounded nurturing of youngsters worked at Ajax and Mainoo plays with the grace and poise of those who preach the gospel according to Johan Cruyff. Mainoo's father half-jokingly advised a United staff member not to be afraid of "giving him a clip around the ear" to ensure Mainoo gets up to speed. He has.

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Anyone who has watched Mainoo closely will have wanted him to come up against Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard rather than Fabio Vieira and Emile Smith Rowe in East Rutherford. That must have had a bearing on Ten Hag's decision to start Mainoo in a team that was three players shy of his strongest available XI.

It was telling Mainoo was selected for the third friendly running despite the availability of Casemiro, Christian Eriksen