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Former Manchester United defender, Rio Ferdinand, has slammed England manager, Gareth Southgate’s decision to watch Jordan Henderson play for Ajax rather than Kobbie Mainoo at Old Trafford.
Speaking on his Vibe with FIVE YouTube show, the pundit claimed that he does not think that United’s teenage sensation will be on the plane to Euro 2024 for England.
“No. Southgate ain’t bringing my man. Southgate was in Ajax, he was watching Henderson. He was at Ajax”.
Ferdinand also pointed out that the England manager was not only wrong to snub Mainoo but could have also watched numerous other games happening in the Premier League instead due to the sheer volume of English players taking part.
“The other games that went on this weekend when the England manager was in Holland: there were 18 English players featuring in the Newcastle-Luton game. There were 12 in the Everton-Spurs game. There were 10 in the Brighton-Palace game and five in the Burnley-Fulham game. And then 12 in the Sheffield United-Aston Villa game. And there was one in Holland”.
“When you put it like that it’s mad isn’t it, it’s crazy. Does the manager really need to look at Henderson? Are you fit or not? Yeah? You’re coming. That’s it. That’s all it’s got to be, that’s what it’s about. I’d take him”.
The Champions League winner also warned that there should be a degree of caution when hyping up Mainoo.
Ferdinand himself has been one of the 18 year old’s most vocal fans and after his match-winner against Wolves last Thursday, he claimed that he gave him “Seedorf vibes“.
However on the podcast, he claimed, “I’ve seen some people saying, ‘Oh, Mainoo is better than Makelele’. Please don’t get it twisted. This kid is on the start of his journey, he’s not Makelele. He’s nowhere on the stratosphere of being anything like him yet. We can’t compare him to any of these guys”.
The former centre back went on to defend his own comments earlier in the week by asserting, “you can talk about who he looks similar to. I think he plays similar to someone like Seedorf, that’s who I look at in his game. I’m not saying he’s as good as any of them, or he’s going to be as good as them, but I see similarities”.
Interestingly, England may need to act fast if they want Mainoo to represent them in the future.
It has been relayed here that Ghana have already sounded out the possibility of enticing the youngster to represent the nation of his parents.
As a response, it has also been reported that Southgate is planning to include the Stockport native in the senior England squad for the international friendlies next month.
At The Peoples Person we have already shared our view on the matter, claiming that the youngster is certainly ready to take up a spot in England’s squad as they aim to win Euro 2024 in France.
If Mainoo continues to play in the breathtaking way he has since his full debut versus Everton in November, it would take a brave individual to leave the young man behind in the summer.
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