GREENWOOD HAS THE MAKINGS OF THE NEXT ENGLISH WONDERKID

WHEN a club has a special player, you hear rumours about him.

I remember being at Liverpool and hearing about ‘this 14-year-old kid at Everton’. His name was Wayne Rooney. Two years later in 2002, I was at Tottenham, lining up in the tunnel at Goodison Park, and who was standing next to me? Rooney, aged 16, making his debut.

I remember welcoming Michael Owen into the Liverpool changing room, and being on the pitch when he became the youngest scorer in the club’s history. He was 17 and making his debut against Wimbledon. Find the footage and you’ll hear the commentator say he is ‘tipped to be the new Robbie Fowler, the new Ian Rush’. Talk about pressure! But he managed to get his goal and we know the rest.

We were introduced to others like Owen at Liverpool. Every so often the club would bring a youngster into the changing room. He’d be no older than 13 and the idea was to show him the environment. This wasn’t done for every Tom, Dick and

Harry. The kid had to be special. We love an English wonderkid success story and this brings me to Mason Greenwood, the 18-year-old striker who has Manchester United fans hoping they have found a gem.

A couple of years ago I spoke to Nicky Butt, who is now United’s head of first-team development, and I asked him whether they had any promising kids coming through.

He said: ‘Wait for this kid, Mason Greenwood.’ We waited, and now we’re seeing what he can do.

Full credit to the boy, too. To be tipped as a special talent is one thing. To go and prove it in the Premier League is another.

He refuses to be daunted, and the way he can use both feet is serving him well. Right now, he’s being used on the right by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (right). Personally, I see his future as a No 9. But Greenwood won’t care where he is playing.

Thierry Henry is the greatest we’ve seen in the Premier League. He started his career on the left wing but even when he was the striker at Arsenal, he didn’t stay central. He’d drift and find space, searching for weaknesses in opponents. Greenwood can learn that from his time on the wing, too. The future seems bright for England. Look at the last week. Greenwood scored against Brighton and two more against Bournemouth. Bukayo Saka, another 18-year- old, opened the scoring for Arsenal against Wolves. Phil Foden started against Liverpool and scored. Then there’s Jadon Sancho at Dortmund, Ben Chilwell and James Maddison at Leicester, and it’s remarkable to think Trent Alexander-Arnold is still only 21. If Greenwood continues at United as he is doing, Gareth Southgate will not hesitate to call him up to the senior side.