Man United's answer to current midfield problem might have left the club

It’s rare to find a midfielder who is competent going both forwards and backwards. It’s even rarer to find one who is English.

Bryan Robson, Paul Scholes and Steven Gerrard followed in the footsteps of Sir Bobby Charlton. Some day, Jude Bellingham and Kobbie Mainoo may be lumped in the same bracket.

Both current Three Lions stars - and Euro 2024 starters - have refinements to offer in their game with both still eligible for the Under-21s. Time is the greatest assessor, which is certainly the case of their new teammate.

Those who watched Angel Gomes in his rise through the Manchester United academy may argue that they always saw him becoming an established top-league player and perhaps an England international. For the player himself, while confident, it was never that straight-forward.

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“It was difficult leaving the club that I was at from [six years old],” Gomes admitted upon receiving his maiden senior call-up in September. “From then it has been an uphill trajectory but also with a lot of difficulties and difficult moments. But being in this position now makes it all worth it."

That said, the playmaker “knew that eventually I would be able to create a pathway for myself to be in this position that I'm in now”. That assurance and self-belief characterised itself best in Sunday’s 3-1 win for England over Finland.

His deft ball through for Jack Grealish’s opener would have been lauded to the hilt if it had been from Bellingham or Mainoo. Yet there is a sense that the 24-year-old is at risk of moving outside of public view once again under a new