Laryea Kingston gives tips on how Ghana can lure Man United’s Kobby Mainoo

Ex-Ghana international Laryea Kingston has cautioned against rushing to court Manchester United youngster Kobbie Mainoo to play for Ghana.

According to him, the first step is to establish whether the player wants to connect with Ghana before pushing through with any proposal for a nationality switch.

Laryea noted that, to lure the 18-year-old to ditch England for the Black Stars, the process must be thorough, from the talking stage to his integration.

“Here is a case where we have a young boy coming up and he is doing well with Manchester United and all of a sudden Ghanaians say we should bring him. Have we thought about integration, how many times has he even come to Ghana?” he told Graphic Sport.

“We need to talk to him, visit him at Manchester United and let him feel that he is welcome then slowly you lure him into the environment. Agogo and Quincy and all those people, some of us were part of their integration. We helped them to fit in and feel comfortable.”

Mainoo is currently enjoying a breakout campaign at Manchester United, having made 13 appearances in the first team this season.

The teenager was the match-winner when Erik ten Hag’s side defeated Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-3 in the Premier League last Thursday.

Last week, it emerged that the Ghana Football Association (GFA) was interested in pursuing Mainoo to switch nationality from England to play for the Black Stars.

This was revealed by Executive Council member of the GFA, Dr. Randy Abbey, who said the 18-year-old midfielder is on the Association’s radar.

However, reacting to this, Laryea, who is the assistant coach of Ghana’s U17 national team, said the GFA has to be sure that Mainoo’s profile fits the Black Stars before taking any steps.

“You have to look at the way Manchester United is using him, then you assess the team that we have now and whether he can fit in or not.

“Because if you look at the Spanish team, they have a lot of players playing even in the Spanish league and are doing well in their clubs, but they would not call them into the national team because they feel their style cannot fit into the national team,” he added.

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