Ian Wright believes Mason Greenwood is showing all the signs of a ‘very special’ player and insists Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has every right to be excited about the youngster after the Manchester United manager hailed him as one of the most natural finishers he’s ever worked with in his career.
United suffered an early scare at home to Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon as Junior Stanislas nutmegged Harry Maguire and beat David de Gea at his near post to break the deadlock in the 15th minute.
But the Red Devils hit back on the half-hour mark as Greenwood smashed a powerful left-footed drive a hapless Aaron Ramsdale after the ever-impressive Bruno Fernandes found the 18-year-old forward on the edge of the box at Old Trafford.
Marcus Rashford converted a 35th-minute penalty to give the hosts the lead for the first time in the match before Anthony Martial extended their advantage with a sublime curled effort from 25 yards.
Joshua King pulled a goal back for Bournemouth in the 49th minute before Greenwood’s completed his brace – this time with an explosive right-footed strike – and Fernandes’ exquisite free-kick rounded off an impressive afternoon from a United perspective.
Greenwood’s second strike took him to eight goals for the top-flight campaign – only Michael Owen (9 and 18), Wayne Rooney (9) and Robbie Fowler (10) have scored more in a Premier League season from players aged 18 or younger.
Asked about the teenager’s meteoric rise following United’s 5-2 victory, Solskjaer told BBC Sport: ‘He is one of the best if not the best finisher I’ve worked with or seen because he’s so calm.
‘He’s so composed. If that’s on the playground or at Carrington or back home in the garden, he knows how to finish and how to score a goal.
‘And it doesn’t matter if there’s 75,000 fans here at Old Trafford or nobody because that’s just what he does.’
Reacting to Solskjaer’s sensational claim on Match of the Day, Wright urged supporters to believe the hype surrounding Greenwood given the attacker has everything in his locker to become a ‘top drawer’ player.
‘He does look very special,’ the legendary ex-Arsenal striker said.
‘He’s a young English player and we get very excited when you see a talent like that come through especially at a club the size of United.
‘He’s 18 and you see him blasting onto the scene like he has and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s saying he’s one of the best finishers he’s ever seen – and he [Solskjaer] has been amongst some.
‘Yes, people might think we’re getting carried away but we’re not getting carried away because he’s got these little things in his game already which you know is top drawer.’
Discussing Greenwood’s first goal versus the Cherries, Wright said: ‘When you watch him here, you see Adam Smith think he’s got him because he’s got him in his periphery.
‘So what he does is he makes a move, he comes in and then checks out.
‘It gives him that extra half a yard so Adam Smith can’t quite get there and that is what the top boys can do.
‘That move that he did initially gave him that half a yard and that’s an 18-year-old that has that naturally.’
On Greenwood’s second strike, Wright added: ‘First one we saw was an unbelievable left foot strike.
‘And it was Quinton Fortune who saw him finishing in training and said: “What’s wrong with you?! You’re finishing so well”.
‘You think he’s gone too wide then bang. It’s just such a sweet strike.
‘And I’m sorry but how can you not be excited about that?!’
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