OFF AND RUNNING Even before January was out, Kobbie had notched his first senior goal for the Reds. Having started in the third-round win at Wigan, the midfielder retained his spot for the FA Cup fourth-round trip to Newport County, where it took him just 13 minutes to put United 2-0 up. His maiden first-team strike was executed in what would soon become trademark Mainoo style: unflustered to the extreme. Diogo Dalot carried possession into the right-hand side of the hosts’ penalty area, pulled the ball back and, without breaking stride, the teenager whipped an unstoppable first-time finish into the far corner of the goal. “It’s a big point in my career,” he told MUTV after the Reds survived a scare to progress by a 4-2 margin. “Obviously, coming in and to score my first goal… I’ve been dreaming of this moment for a long time. It’s been amazing.”
MOLINEUX MADNESS
“I still feel like I’m dreaming,” laughed the youngster when he next faced the post-match cameras, just four days after opening his account at Newport. This time, on the same day he picked up his first official club Player of the Month award for his January exploits, Mainoo was the centre of attention after a mind-blowing start to February. A fine personal display in the Reds’ Premier League trip to Molineux looked set to go to waste when United squandered a 3-1 lead with just five minutes of normal time remaining. The hosts’ late comeback squared the game in the 95th minute, yet somehow Kobbie found the time and composure to keep his calm in the storm, picking up possession from fellow Academy graduate Omari Forson, slaloming towards the Wolves goal and slotting in a sensational far-post winner. Just as gripping was the nonchalance of his celebration as he trotted towards an away section seized by bedlam, as if he hadn’t done anything special. As it turned out, fashioning the routine from the spectacular would become another of Kobbie’s calling cards. “I’m not saying he’s of the same ability and he’s that player yet, but he gives me the vibes of Clarence Seedorf,” poured former Reds defender Rio Ferdinand, unpacking Mainoo’s star turn as a TNT pundit. “The way he can manoeuvre in tight situations, and the way he manipulates the ball, uses his body at times… beautiful.”
