BIRMINGHAM, England -- Mason Greenwood was so promising as a schoolboy at Manchester United that Sir Alex Ferguson would tell people of the "special" talent that would one day break into the first team. After the 19-year-old eclipsed Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo in the club's record books with a crucial goal in Sunday's 3-1 win at Aston Villa, Ferguson was shown to be right.
In truth, Greenwood's precocious ability has been well known to the football world since he broke into Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team as a 17-year-old in 2019, but his goal at Villa Park, which put United 2-1 ahead after a Bruno Fernandes penalty had levelled Bertrand Traore's opener, confirmed just how big of a future he has at Old Trafford.