Robin van Persie enjoyed a storied career at various clubs including Man United, and current Red Devil, Luke Shaw, has named the player who he believes could go on to emulate the Dutch legend.
Since his introduction into Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first team, Mason Greenwood hasn’t looked overawed and has consistently impressed, and Shaw believes that the youngster can go on to great things if he carries on in the same vein.
“He’s had a fantastic first season in the first team. He’s clearly a natural goalscorer,” Shaw wrote in his weekly lockdown diary, cited by the Daily Star.
“This season – even though he doesn’t start all the time – his goals return and his stats are great, and he’s got some assists too, if I’m not mistaken. For someone so young, in their first season, he’s done brilliantly.
“He’s still got so much to learn, but if he carries on working hard and pushes himself every day then I don’t see why we can’t see him turn into another Robin van Persie or a player of that style that’ll score lots of goals for us.”
Although football is littered with players who could be the ‘next big thing,’ only for their talent to fizzle out, Man United appear to be doing things the right way with Greenwood.
It is getting to the point now where he could be giving Solskjaer a real selection headache, something that the Norwegian would surely be delighted by, and it’s good to see that, despite his evident talent, Greenwood isn’t being fast-tracked through the process.
Keeping the player hungry at this stage might well bring benefits later, and that can only be a blessing for United and for Greenwood himself.