(CNN)There was a time in the winter of 2008 when Paul Newsham’s Yorkshire home sounded like an old telephone switchboard every Saturday night.
“Somebody’s going to call about Mason to see if he’s playing,” his wife Julie would say each time the phone rang.
The callers were scouts inquiring whether Mason Greenwood, the six-year-old who would become the incredibly talented Manchester United striker, would be playing for the Newsham-managed boys side Idle FC in the north of England the next day.
Clearly, Greenwood has always made an impression on the pitch.
From those carefree days as a lightning-fast striker playing near his hometown of Bradford, the 18-year-old has become an integral part of an improving United, scoring goals, helping the team rise in the league and talking about for the last month as the next great English talent.
He could also help United reach the Europa League final should Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men defeat Sevilla in Sunday’s semi-finals.
With 10 league goals in an impressive debut season, Greenwood is only the third teenager to have scored 10 or more goals in the English Premier League in a single season.
Former England captain Alan Shearer said Greenwood could usurp him as the EPL’s record goalscorer. According to former Liverpool man-turned-football expert Jamie Redknapp, those at United who have worked with the teenager say he is one of the best the club has seen, while another former England star, Gary Lineker, has said so “will not be”. long” until Greenwood is selected by England manager Gareth Southgate. The list of admirers seems endless.
But those who follow United closely know that a young player named Greenwood has been coming through the ranks for years. Exaggerations and excitement have accompanied the gamer from an early age.
“A different level than all others”
As a six-year-old playing for Idle FC’s under-7s, it was young Greenwood’s pace that stood out, Newsham recalls.
Shy and short in stature, Greenwood also had an eye for goal and shot from sight, just as he did for United after lockdown as the team secured a lucrative Champions League spot by finishing third in the league .
A few days after his sixth birthday, Greenwood made his debut for Idle FC in a game against Silsden Football and Cricket Club, scoring all 10 goals in a 10–1 win.
“I kept having to get him out because as soon as you had 10 goals you had to stop the game, so I had to get him out or it would have been the game over too soon,” recalls Newsham with a chuckle. “I kept bringing him down and he just stayed by the side of my leg and looked up at me and said, ‘Can I go on again, Paul?’ He was so happy to play.
“From the first training session, his ball control was excellent at that age. You could see that he was on a completely different level than everyone else.”
Greenwood’s goal threat is a natural that has been honed to such an extent that Solskjaer, a man who has worked with Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, has called him the deadliest finisher he’s seen at that age. He is only the fourth teenager in United history, after George Best, Brian Kidd and Rooney, to score 17 goals or more in a season.
At Idle’s annual invitational tournament, which featured youth teams from the area, Greenwood was set on a path that would lead to Old Trafford. Shortly after the tournament, he began training at United’s development center in Halifax, Yorkshire after impressing the surrounding scouts, including United, and eventually signed for the club aged nine.
“I spoke to some scouts at that tournament, I’m sure I spoke to a Man Utd scout but I can’t remember because so many approached me and then asked about him,” adds Newsham.
“When he went to Manchester United at the age of seven, he couldn’t play for us. His father called me to say he couldn’t play anymore. I was disappointed but when you train with a club like that you can understand why they don’t want to play local football.”
Thriving under Solskjaer
Greenwood’s rise to the top was quick, but it came as no surprise to his former coach. At the age of 14, United gave him a scholarship. Two years later, he topped the U18 Premier League (North) scorer list and was named player of the tournament at the 2018 Cor Groenewegen International Tournament. He also shone for England at age group level, helping England’s Under-18 team win the four-team Limoges tournament.
Under Jose Mourinho, Greenwood made his senior debut for United against Club America in Phoenix on a pre-season tour in the summer of 2018, but he has thrived under Solskjaer and excelled in particular when the EPL resumed the following June at a 100-day Pause due to the coronavirus pandemic.
He is now established in the first-team, scoring five goals in the last eight games of the season and returning from lockdown with a significantly more muscular physique than the teenager who started the season on the bench.
“That’s something you see with young players sometimes, you see them initially and there’s evidence of talent, but then there’s a point where they develop that extra, whether it’s upper body muscle or that speed, to take it away from someone . “British sports journalist Richard Jolly says CNN Sports.
“I don’t think we’ll ever know what would have happened if it weren’t for lockdown but he seems to have come back stronger and ready to play any week.”
What sets Greenwood apart from most other players is that he is ambidextrous, a rare ability he acquired thanks to his father, who encouraged him to practice with both feet. Twenty minutes before practice began at United’s Halifax center, Greenwood would shoot with both feet at the trash cans out front, the story goes.
His family, who, like the teenager himself, have shied away from media attention, have been key to his rise. His father took him to Moss Side, a relatively deprived area of town, to play football there to toughen him up.
He stands in front of goal and plays as if time slows down when he has the ball and has already proven he can score from all angles and distances.
“He’s really two-footed with his finish, he scores a good number of goals both outside and inside the box,” added Jolly. “For those who believe in expected goals, Greenwood hugely exceeds his expected goals and shows what a good finisher he is. He doesn’t miss any chances at all.
“Probably everyone at United knows he’s going to stay here. He’s one long term and he’s very similar [Marcus] Rashford, he’s one of those guys who saved them £50m or £100m.”
“Extremely exciting”
Of course, there has to be a certain perspective. At the same age, world champion Kylian Mbappe played in the Champions League and broke Thierry’s record in Henry Ligue 1.
Still, there’s no denying that Greenwood is a wondrous talent. Football is a brutal business and Greenwood has already beat all odds in making it this far – according to Michael Calvin in his book No Hunger in Paradise, only 180 of the 1.5 million boys playing organized youth football in England will Premier become league pro. But throughout his young life, Greenwood has stood out from the crowd.
“In Mason Greenwood we’re actually looking at a player who can be anything he wants,” Markus Goldbridge, presenter for United Stand, tells CNN Sport.
“People talk about him being alongside the likes of Neymar, Mbappe and Messi. I find that unfair. But at 18 I remember Wayne Rooney and there are parallels in different ways as he has a talent for it.” Older, more experienced Premier League clubs struggle to shut him down when he’s in full swing on both feet.
“We’re really, really excited about what he will become at Manchester United.”
The praise Greenwood has received over the past few weeks has been overwhelming. If things continue to improve, he may have to get used to it.
Additional coverage by CNN’s Ben Church
Add Comment