He made his competitive debut in January when he started in a 3-0 EFL Cup win over Charlton, but it was a pre-season friendly against Real Madrid where he showcased his enormous potential before suffering an ankle injury.
Like Ten Hag, Southgate has been keeping close tabs on Mainoo’s progress and is said to be aware that the highly-rated midfielder could still decide to choose the Black Stars.
The likes of Wilfried Zaha, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Tariq Lamptey have all decided to switch allegiance in recent times. He could also lose Harvey Barnes and Anthony Gordon to other countries due to the competition in England’s squad for places.
For that reason, Southgate is keen to ensure Mainoo doesn’t follow their path, although it remains to be seen whether he would be willing to hand him a shock call-up just to fight off Ghana’s interest.
