Ghana aiming to beat England to Kobbie Mainoo call-up | OneFootball

Kobbie Mainoo will be offered the chance to play for Ghana's national team as opposed to England following his rapid emergence with Manchester United.

The 18-year-old midfielder has been a bright spark in what's been a rather dismal season for the Red Devils so far. He most recently scored a stunning 97th-minute winner in a dramatic 4-3 victory at Wolves on Thursday.

Mainoo has represented England at three different youth levels but has already been tipped to force his way into Gareth Southgate's thoughts ahead of Euro 2024 this summer.

Though Mainoo was born and raised in Stockport, Greater Manchester, his parents hail from Ghana, and the Black Stars have made no secret of their desire to have the midfielder represent them instead of the Three Lions.

Speaking to The Times, Randy Abbey, a member of the executive council of the Ghana FA, said: "The Ghana Football Association is interested in monitoring, attracting, and persuading all eligible talents for its various national teams.

"Kobbie is definitely one of these incredible talents, and the association would love to work with him and many like him at home and abroad."

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Ghana are coming off an incredibly disappointing AFCON campaign in which they were eliminated at the group stage, picking up only two points from three games. They appeared to be cruising into the knockouts having led Mozambique 2-0 but conceded twice in second-half stoppage time to surrender their spot in the last 16. Head coach Chris Hughton was sacked in wake of their exit.

Ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Ghana sought to recruit various players with dual nationality, calling the likes of Tariq Lamptey and Inaki Williams up for the tournament.