Man United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo handed England call-up

Manchester United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo has been called up to Gareth Southgate's England squad, the Football Association confirmed on Tuesday.

Originally named in the England Under-21 squad, Southgate has now promoted Mainoo to the senior squad, meaning he could make his first team debut in the upcoming friendlies at Wembley against Brazil on Saturday and Belgium three days later.

Mainoo has impressed for United this year with two goals and two assists in 21 games in all competitions, and has become a regular fixture in Erik Ten Hag's side.

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The 18-year-old has represented England at U17, U18 and U19 levels, but is eligible to switch allegiance to Ghana, where his parents were born.

The youngster still spends some of his free time in Ghana and the country's football association confirmed in February that they were keen to convince Mainoo to represent them at international level.

However, sources told ESPN in February that Southgate believed Mainoo had significant potential and wanted to accelerate his progress with England.

Reporting from ESPN's James Olley contributed to this report.