'In my mind he's gonna be a proper Man United player for a long long time…. he's desperate now to start with the big boys': Michael Owen and Owen Hargreaves lavish praise on new Old Trafford hero Mason Greenwood
* Mason Greenwood scored Manchester United's winning goal on Thursday
* His strike gave United the three points in their Europa League group
* Praise has been pouring in for the youngster thanks to his performance
It was all eyes on Manchester United's youth players on Thursday night as they managed a 1-0 victory over Astana in their opening Europa League game.
Mason Greenwood was the man to see them over the line, with his first senior goal for the club.
Speaking on BT Sport after the game, Michael Owen and Owen Hargreaves lavished praise on the 17-year-old.
17-year-old Mason Greenwood scored Manchester United's winning goal against Astana. It was an excellent finish through the goalkeeper's legs to get his first senior goal for the club. Michael Owen and Owen Hargreaves lavished praise on the youngster after the game
'He'll have a part to play in the Premier League no question,' said Owen. 'His goal record at youth level is phenomenal. In my mind he's gonna be a proper Manchester United player for a long, long time.'
It was a well taken goal from Greenwood, slotting the ball between the keepers' legs with a shot from inside the box.
'Stay fit, stay healthy, and the sky is the absolute limit for him,' said Hargreaves. 'He can be anything he wants, top scorer in the Premier League one day. I'm excited to see he's able to decide a Europa League game at 17.
'For a young player to have that composure in the box, he's gonna be a top player.'
They believe he will be at United for a long time, and will also be an England international
Despite playing well tonight, Greenwood was joined by several other youth players he's used to playing with.
'The problem is sometimes you play with a raft of changes,' said Owen. 'He's doing this on a weekly basis, playing with these players. He's desperate now to start with the big boys. They will feed him even better balls, and he'll quickly prove he's good enough to play in the first team already.
'It's all a mental thing now. He's good enough. He'll think a bit differently to a lot of the players tonight because he's probably been carrying the youth team.
'As soon as he starts playing regularly for Manchester United he'll be in the England squad.'
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