Colm Cooper has warned Mayo that Kobe McDonald will be a ‘marked man’ in this year’s Championship.

Kobe-mania is sweeping the Connacht county after the AFL-bound 18-year-old marked his arrival on the big stage with sensational cameo performances against Armagh and Monaghan in the Allianz Football League over the last two weekends.

“He has too much quality, too much skill in an area where Mayo don't have as much depth in my opinion,” ‘Gooch’ said on RTÉ Radio's Inside Sport.

“The problem is he is going to be a marked man. Everybody will know about him, know what he is capable of, so they'll keep a close eye on him.

“He's a great player to watch and he has shown already in his short inter-county career the quality that he has. It's going to be a real fun watch watching that guy during the summer. He has that innocence, youth and exuberance. It's very hard for an 18 or 19-year-old to come in and take a game by storm but he is capable of that.”

Cooper claims the expectations are higher for McDonald than when he was starting out with Kerry.

"I was going into a very experienced Kerry team, I didn't feel too much pressure on me, I was going in with a free shot. The expectation wasn't as high as it is for Kobe now,” he added.

"I will see him in the flesh for the first time against Kerry in Tralee, in two weeks' time. And I'm really looking forward to that."

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