Mason Greenwood set to face Troy Parrott as pre-season heats up

Patrick McCarry

This one will be well worth watching.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scoffed at the suggestion, on Manchester United’s pre-season tour, that Mason Greenwood might be loaned out to another side this season so he could gain first team experience.

The 17-year-old, who has scored twice in three pre-season outings, made his senior debut for United last season after already doing considerable scoring damage for the club’s U23 and U19 sides.

Greenwood was likened to Ryan Giggs, who made his United debut against Manchester City as a 17-year-old in 1991, by Solskjaer and there is no higher praise a player from this club can get.

The Bradford native, who has been in the United set-up since he was six, is expected to challenge the likes of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Alexis Sanchez for a spot in attack, with Romelu Lukaku looking set to join Inter Milan.

Greenwood is likely to feature for United in their next pre-season outing, on Thursday, and he should cross paths with another teenage goalscoring prospect. Shanghai could be the city that Greenwood and Tottenham’s Troy Parrott take each other on in senior football.

Parrott, who is three months younger than Greenwood, made his first ever start for Tottenham against Juventus, on Sunday, and he impressed all those that watched him. He looked more than comfortable mixing it against Juve’s top stars and played a big part in his side’s opener in their 3-2 win.

The Ireland underage star was pulled from participating in the U19 European Championships to tour with the Spurs senior squad. Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino has spoken highly of him and told reporters in Shanghai that he could be retained in the squad for the upcoming season if the club do not bring in any new strikers.

Today, yes [he could be part of the squad], tomorrow, I don’t know. We’re working with the [young] players, trying to provide the best platform and possibility for them to perform and be comfortable with the first team. He’s still so young but we’ll see what happens at the end of the transfer window. If we have the squad that we have today, of course he’s going to have the possibility to be with the first team.

Parrott’s case is strengthened by the fact that Vincent Janssen is leaving the club to join Monterrey in Mexico.

Dele Alli, Lucas Moura and Harry Kane could all start for Tottenhsm, against United, but Parrott is expected to see some game time, as is Greenwood for United.