Hargreaves says Carrick has a player in his ranks who can ‘do everything’ and become ‘one of the best’ in the world

Owen Hargreaves couldn’t speak highly enough of Kobbie Mainoo ahead of Manchester United’s clash with Sabah last night.

The midfielder (unsurprisingly) retained his starting spot for United’s Champions League opener and played just over an hour as the Reds cruised to a comfortable win on home soil.

How did Mainoo fare vs Sabah?

(Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Mainoo was eventually replaced by summer signing Andrey Santos in the 64th minute, while Benjamin Sesko simultaneously made way for Joshua Zirkzee for his first appearance of the season.

When United got their Premier League campaign underway last month, the 21-year-old started on the bench for the opening fixture against Hull City.

This was only due to his late World Cup involvement meaning he had less pre-season training than the rest of his teammates – hence Marcus Rashford and Lisandro Martinez also being omitted from the XI that day.

It was expected that Mainoo would reclaim his rightful place in the middle of the park as soon as he was fully match-fit, and that has proven to be the case over the last few weeks.

During Thursday night’s triumph, the Carrington graduate had the most touches of any player on the pitch and finished his shift with an impressive 98 per cent passing accuracy.

Mainoo’s heatmap during United’s Champions League opener (FotMob)

He completed one successful dribble, recorded 10 passes into the final third, and dispatched a whopping six accurate long balls, making it no surprise he was hailed as the ‘best player’ by journalist Samuel Luckhurst.

What Hargreaves had to say about Mainoo

(Photo by Molly Darlington/Getty Images)

Yet, Hargreaves was singing Mainoo’s praises before he even kicked a ball last night.

“I’ve never seen Kobbie play bad,” said Hargreaves on TNT Sports’ coverage. “Every time I watch him play football, I think, ‘How can somebody not play this young man?’

“I just think he’s a fabulous football player. Academy-grown, didn’t cost a club a pound, and when you think about some of the fees that these players are going for…

“Obviously, they signed Santos and [Youri] Tielemans for £85 [million] combined. [Carlos] Baleba was probably £70 million. What would Kobbie be worth? It’s worth more than them all. No disrespect to any of them, but I just love his game.

“I think he can do so much, and it only really depends on who he plays with and who plays next to him. But I think Kobbie can kind of do everything in there.

“You can just pass him the ball anywhere, at any time. Technically, just so gifted, glides with the ball. That’s what a Man United midfielder needs to do at all times. Obviously, with Bruno in front of him, whether he plays as a six or an eight, he’s what you build around.”

“He’s a star,” Hargreaves continued. “I think he’s going to be a superstar. He’s only 21 years old, and he plays like he’s 30. That’s how he plays football in the most stressful environment – just chilled.”

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