Alan Shearer explains what makes Man Utd's Mason Greenwood so impressive

Alan Shearer can scarcely praise Manchester United striker Mason Greenwood highly enough, picking out his ability to get shots off quickly with either foot as the reasons he is so impressed with 19-year-old.

Greenwood scored his 11th goal of the season on Sunday, putting the Red Devils ahead against Aston Villa in a game they went on to win 3-1 at Villa Park.

It was his 16th goal for United and broke Wayne Rooney’s record of Premier League goals as a teenager for the club.

The strike was textbook Greenwood as he cut in from the right and fired in an early shot on his left foot which caught Villa ‘keeper Emi Martinez off guard at his near post.

Shearer, the Premier League’s record goal-scorer, sees this ability as an immense strength for the England international, who he rates incredibly highly.

‘Well the master and his apprentice,’ Shearer told the BBC of Greenwood working with fellow Man Utd forward Edinson Cavani. ‘What a special, special talent Greenwood is.

He’s going to score a stack of goals over the next 10 or 15 years. He’s bright, he’s clever, his finishing is superb and will get better. Left foot, right foot, his short back-lift is very impressive – the way he gets his shots away early.

‘That’s what is very, very impressive about him. That’s a difficult skill to have. The keeper perhaps should have done better today but it’s because he takes it early, the keeper hasn’t got time to set himself to get down there because of that short backlift. But the impressive thing he does is, he can do it with left and right.’

Greenwood has been capped once by England boss Gareth Southgate and Shearer feels he would be a very useful addition to the squad at this summer’s European Championships.

‘When there was a squad of 23, I think it might have been difficult to get him in there,’ said the Newcastle United legend. ‘Now there’s 26, absolutely. If England are struggling for a goal, they can chuck him on and because of that ability that we just highlighted, absolutely yep.’

Cavani replaced Greenwood in the second half at Villa Park and scored United’s third goal of the game as the veteran’s fine form continued.

Shearer is equally as impressed with the 34-year-old as he is with the teenager and feels he is the perfect man to teach Greenwood the art of forward play.

‘The apprentice off, the master on,’ Shearer continued. ‘I’ve spoken in glowing terms about Greenwood but this guy is incredible.

‘He’s just deadly. His movement, to get in there, the hunger to keep on scoring goals. He gets in between the full-back and the centre-half, they haven’t got a clue where he is. Absolutely magnificent. He’s been doing it for years.

‘They have to try and keep hold of him. Not only will it benefit the team but it will also benefit the youngsters who are going to work with him every single day and look at him closely in training.’

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