I think a fundamental point missing from your assessment of Mainoo is he’s shown he is comfortable and capable of being a single pivot in a dreadful midfield playing in a role so barren, you’d have to ask how many other midfielders in the league could come into our shambolic set up and do the same or better. This isn’t Wilshere, who played in a comprehensively superior midfield and as an #8 with less burden of responsibility on his shoulders. DM/DLP is widely acknowledged as one of the hardest roles on the pitch and not one you see kids enter the fray as teenagers and excel at against season pros, and to reiterate once more, in dire conditions; if you are not watching our games, you have no clue how bad we are and have been in midfield and how much of a burden and responsibility we have placed on a kid’s underdeveloped shoulders. This simply isn’t the run of the mill; the conditions are absolutely abnormal, which is where so much more praise is being reserved for him.
Young prodigies come along and even shine in that role, but you should take a moment and think how many rose to such prominence at 18 and with so few professIonal games under their belt. Once you’ve done that, ask yourself how many of those have done it at a club of the pressure and standing of a Manchester United. Context is everything. The odds on him going to the Euros aren’t even that long, why is that? No matter what the fans think, why haven’t the bookmakers offered odds you can make a huge turnaround on if your ‘speculative’ punt turns out to be true?
Another factor with valuing young prodigies is that they are ‘unsellable’ and giant clubs simply scoff and make it entirely impossible to buy their jewels in the crown. Pedri, Kimmich, Busquets and so on and so forth were assuredly not viable targets for other clubs, hence bids did not come in for them. Mainoo is lining up to be in that bracket and United’s obstacle, unlike those aforementioned players’ clubs, is the player himself might move on to pastures new if not competing for leagues and CL’s, at which point the unsaleable will potentially have a price on his head.