'How's Kobbie Mainoo not in that squad?' - Ian Wright questions Gareth Southgate's decision to leave Man Utd midifelder out after 'immense' display against Liverpool

The 18-year-old was one of the standout performers as United sealed a 4-3 win in extra time of their FA Cup quarter-final tie against Liverpool on Sunday. His impressive display comes days after Gareth Southgate announced his squad for England's friendlies against Brazil and Belgium, and Wright believes the midfielder should have been on the list.

Wright posted a video on social media asking: "How's Kobbie Mainoo not in that squad. Roy [Keane], how's Kobbie Mainoo not in that squad. Come on, man. Come on, eh? The man was immense today."

England manager Southgate was asked about the absence of United's rising star and explained his decision to leave him out. He told reporters: "He's only had a handful of games and you have to be very careful development-wise in making those decisions at the right time. So we think ideally, we should allow him that space to develop at his own speed. He's not at the point in terms of number of games that Jude [Bellingham] and Bukayo [Saka] were when they came in for the first time."

Mainoo has instead been called into the England Under-21 squad for the first time in his career. Lee Carsley's side are due to face Azerbaijan and Luxembourg in Group F of the Euro 2025 qualifiers over the international break.