KOBBIE MAINOO’S probable presence as the only senior Manchester United academy graduate in Saturday’s squad against Tottenham will be all the more poignant.
United held their annual memorial service for the Munich air disaster on Friday and the traditional pre-match gathering will take place two hours before kick-off.
Seven of the eight United players killed in Munich on February 6 1958 were academy graduates dubbed the “Busby Babes”.
Mainoo is now the keeper of that flame. Shea Lacey, 18, debuted in December and could be on the bench again this weekend, but Mainoo is one of the few academy talents in the post-Ferguson era who has truly played his way into the first team.
Michael Carrick worked with Mainoo when he was 13 as he gained his coaching badges.
Mainoo has been an ever-present under the new United head coach after going eight months without a Premier League start under Ruben Amorim.
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As midfielders with similar skill sets, Carrick and Mainoo are kindred spirits. Carrick’s attachment to the United academy tightens that bond.
Carrick said: “Knowing Kobbie to start with, and what he could bring to the team, it was my thought to put him into the team.
“I thought he would give us an awful lot. I think from the club’s point of view, there’s an ideal scenario to bring players through the academy and have them in the team and have them go through their career at this club, staying in and around it.
“I think I was fortunate enough to be with a lot of players that managed to do that and I think it’s important.
“Obviously, with Munich and the kind of the foundation of the football club, everything feeds off that.”
The only other experienced academy graduate in Carrick’s squad is 39-year-old third-choice goalkeeper Tom Heaton.
Lacey, Jack Fletcher and Bendito Mantato earned debuts in Amorim’s final weeks in charge when the United squad was depleted by injuries and internationals away at the Africa Cup of Nations.
The challenge for them is to ease the burden on Mainoo, yet to commit to a new contract.
The 20-year-old’s current deal expires in 2027 but United have the option of an additional year.
Carrick insisted: “I’m not putting everything on Kobbie’s shoulders. He’s doing terrific at the moment and I’m sure he’ll continue to be that way.
“We want more, we want more players to come through the system and to get into the first team.
“For me, there’s no better feeling of giving younger players a chance.
“He’s taken the chance over recent weeks and I am sure he will continue to do that.”
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