Former Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov is staying guarded over Kobbie Mainoo, but admits he was impressed by the youngster.
The 18-year-old midfielder made his first appearance of the season against Everton during a 3-0 win, and was a standout performance in an area where United remain weak.
With Casemiro’s influence waning at Old Trafford, Sofyan Amrabat yet to match the form he showed for Morocco at the World Cup, and Mason Mount yet to convince, there is room for a new player to stake a claim for a starting spot under Erik ten Hag.
Speaking to Betfair, Berbatov praised the teenager but did not want to put too much pressure on.
He said: “A lot of people are rightly praising Kobbie Mainoo’s performance. Let’s hope it’s the first of many because sometimes we’re too quick to jump to conclusions.
“Just let the boy be, let’s hope he’s going to continue on the path of his development and let’s hope he’ll have many more games like this. He’ll have difficult games in the future.
“It’s a good start. Let’s hope he’s in a good environment outside of the team - this is very important. Let’s hope he stays consistent. Some games he’ll play, some games he’ll be a substitute. But when the manager gives you the trust, try not to let him down.
“Let’s take it easy for a moment, it’s just one game! It’s a great start, but in the past, there were players with five great games, but they disappeared.
“I’m very happy young players are given opportunities to show what they can do because they’re hungry. They are there ready to go. When the opportunity arrived in Mainoo’s case, he grabbed it. It’s a great base to build on.
“Now, the difficult part starts to continue on that road you’re building. You need to be obsessed with becoming the best in your position and to not let the manager down.
“Now the journey starts for the manager to know how to take care of the player and for the player to take care of himself. United are famous for producing their own players, so it’s great to see academy players in the first-team.”