Mason Greenwood is 'made for Man United' - Ole Gunnar Solskjaer backs 17-year-old to shine next season

Tom Doyle12 May 2019

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes Mason Greenwood has everything needed to become a Manchester United first-team regular after making his full debut for the club.

Greenwood made history on the final day of the 2018-19 season, with the forward becoming the youngster ever player to start a Premier League game for United at just 17 years and 223 days old.

However, Greenwood's big day was ruined as United's disappointing season came to a fitting conclusion as relegated Cardiff won 2-0 at Old Trafford.

Greenwood was the only positive in a poor first half in which Nathaniel Mendez-Laing's penalty gave Cardiff the lead.

The 17-year-old almost equalised for United as he superbly made space before unleashing a deflected shot that Neil Etheridge touched on to the post.

AFP/Getty Images

However, United's poor day was compounded nine minutes after the restart by Mendez-Laing capitalising on dreadful defending to tap home.

United ended up sixth in the table, and Solskjaer has already warned that a number of players could be sold as he seeks to rejuvenate the squad this summer - but the Norwegian coach has plans for Greenwood.

In Pictures | Man United vs Cardiff | 12/05/2019

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Speaking after the game, Solskjaer said: "We’ll need players in, we’ll need some characters in but of course you see Mason today, he’s made for Manchester United and a player we’ll see a lot of."

Regarding United's poor run-in, Solskjaer said: "The last couple of months have been extremely hard for the team and for the club and for the players.

"More or less the only positive from today is that the season is over. We meet again 1 July and we’ll work back to where we belong.

"To reach the leaders it will take a long time. For ourselves the short-term focus in the league will be getting into the top four.

"We’ve got the Europa League, FA Cup, Carabao Cup to go for a trophy because Manchester United can’t go many years without winning a trophy. Jose [Mourinho] won the Europa League last and that is a realistic ambition.

Getty Images

"In the league, the points we are behind the top two, they have been excellent those two. Absolutely exceptional. And we are five or six points behind Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea. They are the ones we have to make sure we catch up and don’t let anyone closer to us."

Additional reporting by the Press Association.

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