Greenwood opens up on comparisons to ex-Man Utd goal machine

Man Utd sensation Mason Greenwood revealed his lofty aspirations when speaking recently about comparisons to former Red Devil Robin van Persie.

Following the summer departures of Alexis Sanchez and Romelu Lukaku to Inter Milan on a loan and permanent transfer respectively, Greenwood has been afforded a host of first-team opportunities this campaign.

The 18-year-old has excelled in his time on the pitch, scoring a splendid 10 goals from 31 appearances across all competitions for the senior side.

That figure is even more impressive when factoring in that Greenwood has rarely played the full 90 minutes in most matches, throwing up a superb goals-per-minute ratio of one strike every 148 minutes.

His exploits led to comparisons with ex-Red Devils goal machine Robin van Persie, with boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer waxing lyrical about the youngster’s finishing ability in November.

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“He is very composed with his finishing. It is natural for him. Right foot, left foot… I still don’t think he knows which is his best one, which is very difficult for defenders to defend against,” said the Norwegian (via the Manchester Evening News).

“But the good thing is he can do it at Old Trafford in front of a full crowd. He doesn’t get fazed by the occasion so he is still composed.

“[Whether] that is a game with his mates in the park or a cup final he will finish the same. Or in the Premier League hopefully.”

Now, Greenwood has given his thoughts on the comparisons and revealed his aspirations regarding the Dutchman.

“I like taking people on, doing skills. Obviously people think that I’m similar to Van Persie, so I want to be like him one day,” Greenwood told the Premier League.

With Marcus Rashford ruled out for an extended period of time due to a back injury, Greenwood is expected to be given plenty of opportunities to get to work on matching Van Persie’s exploits over the coming months.

Meanwhile, fellow Utd forward Anthony Martial has rinsed former boss Jose Mourinho and admitted his desire to prove the Portuguese wrong.

The 24-year-old forward rarely saw eye-to-eye with the former United manager and was often left on the sidelines as the club struggled to live up to their first season’s high standards under the Portuguese coach.

Mourinho’s departure last December brought about an immediate upturn in Martial’s fortunes and the France star was rewarded with a new five-year deal back in January as a reward for his improvements under the Portuguese’s successor Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Read what the Frenchman had to say here.