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‘Unbelievable’… Pundit says one Manchester United teenager is better than Arsenal star was at the same age
Anton Ferdinand has insisted that Kobbie Mainoo is better than one Arsenal star was at the same age, as the Manchester United youngster continues to attract plaudits in what has been a remarkable season.
There has been little doubt that Kobbie Mainoo has been the breakout star in the Premier League this term. Heading into this campaign, the 18-year-old had only made three appearances for Manchester United. And he did not feature for Erik ten Hag’s men this term before the trip to Everton in late November.
Fast forward four months and Mainoo now appears to be in with a brilliant chance of going to Euro 2024 after making his full England debut on Tuesday night.
Mainoo has been lauded following his performances against Brazil and Belgium.
Anton Ferdinand claims Kobbie Mainoo is better than Arsenal star at the same age
It has been remarkable how Mainoo appears to be clearing every single hurdle put in front of him. And with that, it is inevitable that there will be comparisons with some of the best young players the Premier League has ever seen.
In fact, speaking on , Anton Ferdinand believes that Mainoo is more impressive than Arsenal talisman Bukayo Saka was at the same age.
“Listen, I’m going to start, Kobbie Mainoo is an unbelievable talent. Generational. 100 percent. Not just because of what he does on the ball, the way he is on the pitch, everyone would love someone like that in their team, coming through their academy. To go from under-18s or 19s captain with England straight into the first-team and look like he’s been there for years tells you everything about the kid. He’s done that at Man United. So there’s no questions over him. The only question you could have is can that continue? That’s where the question’s going to be. But what we’re seeing right now is something that we’ve not seen in a long, long time by the way,” he said.
“People talk about Saka. Saka wasn’t doing this in my opinion. He wasn’t doing this at 18.
“He was inconsistent. Kobbie Mainoo is not inconsistent.”
Some time before Manchester United starlet proves his consistency
Where Ferdinand is probably correct is that Saka was not too consistent at that stage. In the 2019/20 season, he scored one goal and contributed five assists in 26 Premier League games.
It was during the 2021/22 season that Saka took his game to another level. And he has been directly involved in 64 goals in the league since the start of that campaign.
However, Mainoo has now played just 25 games at senior level for club and country. It is surely too soon to establish whether he is going to have the consistency to realise his full potential.
There is absolutely no question that he looks to be a special talent.
But Arsenal fans will, understandably, argue that he has a long way to go before he reaches the level Saka is now at.