⚽⚽⚽-Martial could be the big victim of Greenwood's Manchester United emergence

The homegrown prospect is already the second-highest goalscorer of the season and that could lead to questions arising over the impact of Martial

Mason Greenwood scored his second Premier League goal on Sunday, earning Manchester United a draw against Everton. It was another important goal after interventions against AZ, Astana and Sheffield United – and drew merited comparisons with former United favourite Robin van Persie.

The retired Dutch striker may well have met Marcus Rashford for a BT Sport interview earlier this week, but it is Greenwood who bears the greatest resemblance to Van Persie. The short back lift on his shooting technique bears the hallmarks of Van Persie at his best.


Greenwood will likely feature again for United against Colchester in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night and it is clear that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is ready to play the long game with his young striker.

Just as he has done with Brandon Williams, Solskjaer has not rushed to start him in every game. Over the draining course of a season, it will do them good to dip in and out of the Premier League’s relentless pressure.

While that conservatism from Solskjaer should be appreciated and is the sensible choice, it would be foolish to ignore the truism that if a player is good enough, he is old enough. It does not matter what age Greenwood is if he scores the goals that make the difference. He is already United’s second-highest scorer of the season after Rashford.

Greenwood’s future at Old Trafford is in little doubt but his emergence in the first team will inevitably have a knock-on effect. Giving him 30 or 40 games a season means that someone else will have to miss out. On current and long-term form, that player has to be Anthony Martial.

The 24-year-old striker started the season showing his importance to the side in the absence of Romelu Lukaku, on hand to be the finisher in the box that United needed.

Until his injury, he appeared to be the most natural finisher in the first-team squad. His six goals this season leave him on course for his best return yet in a red shirt. Yet it can’t be ignored that Martial’s return from injury has not seen him at his best.





GOAL