“I give him a lot of love”: Casemiro gives crucial insight into his relationship with “excellent” Kobbie Mainoo | OneFootball

Manchester United star Casemiro has revealed how he helps teammate Kobbie Mainoo to realise his great potential as he tipped the youngster to potentially become one of the greatest midfielders the Premier League has ever seen.

Mainoo’s emergence has been one of the few success stories of United’s dreary season.

The 19-year-old has impressed with his calm and composed displays that have often made him stand out head and shoulders above some of the more senior and experienced professionals within the club’s ranks.

So far this term, Mainoo has made 27 appearances for United across all competitions. In that time, he has managed three goals and one assist.

Casemiro previously indicated that Mainoo has the skill set to become an England great and in a recent interview with Telemundo (via SportWitness), the five-time Champions League winner re-affirmed this stance once more.

The Brazilian was questioned about his role in aiding younger players to integrate smoothly into the first team and adapt effortlessly to the spotlight, with a specific mention of Mainoo.

Casemiro responded, “Yeah, good friend, good player, excellent player. I see that he enjoys himself a lot on the pitch, I give him a lot of love because at the end of the day he is a player who needs that.”

“And also we can’t give a lot of pressure to those players, so at the end you try to take that pressure off those players because that’s the process of football, isn’t it?”

He added, “Of football, of life, which I think, speaking specifically here about Kobbie, I think in three, four years from now he’s going to be one of the best players in centre midfield in the Premier League.”

“They have to enjoy it, they have to have that process, they have to have this fear of not losing the ball, this fear of continuing to grow, of continuing to learn, to come here to Carrington and to keep growing, to keep training hard.”

In recent games, due to an injury crisis in the defensive department, Mainoo has had to carry on in the middle of the park without the steady and experienced hand of Casemiro who has been forced to operate in central defence.

Ahead of United’s clash against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, the pair will undoubtedly be hoping to be reunited in midfield with one or two defenders set to return from their injury setbacks.

Want to be the first to hear breaking Man United news? For carefully selected, crucial updates, join our WhatsApp channel: https://bit.ly/United-Breaking-News.