Italian giants made move for Manchester United’s ‘next Cristiano Ronaldo’
Manchester United was about to endure a massive blow last summer.
Over the decades, Manchester United have built a supreme culture of promoting youths to the senior side. And no other team in the world equals the consistency they have shown when it comes to giving those youngsters a chance to flourish on the field, at least the record suggests so.
Since 1937, Manchester United have always had an academy graduate in their matchday squad. It is a remarkable feat, isn’t it? Sir Matt Busby, who is regarded as the pioneer of making a United team based on the academy graduates, was the one to materialise all the groundworks based on which the club has guaranteed titles after titles under the guidance of Sir Alex Ferguson.
We all know about the iconic United sides, acknowledged as the ‘Busby Babes’ and ‘The Class of ’92’, which eventually helped United win the first and only treble in the long-lasting history of English football in the year 1999.
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Sir Alex Ferguson had a plethora of academy graduates under his ranks who went on to turn into the greatest of the game. Moreover, despite garnering an abundance of trophies, the legendary gaffer never had to think about the departure of the graduates.
The only Manchester United academy graduate who left Old Trafford when Sir Alex Ferguson was in charge was David Beckham. Ferguson felt that he had seen enough of Beckham’s evolution and finally let him go in what was a €37.50 million summer move to Real Madrid in 2003.
Since then, it has been seldom that a Mancunian red has left the club in that kind of grand manner. But, according to the recent stories surrounding the red side of Manchester, one of their highly-coveted youngsters was at the brink of leaving ‘The Theater of Dream’ last summer.
While speaking on the Talk of the Devils podcast, reliable sports journalist Andy Mitten disclosed that Italian giants Juventus had offered Manchester United youth sensation Mason Greenwood ‘life-changing money’ to lure him to Turin last summer.
United, as told by Mitten, had somehow managed to convince Greenwood that Man United was the best place to pursue his development. And it can be well said now that he was right to stay put at Old Trafford, tying his long-term future with the English club by signing a four-year deal in 2019.
Greenwood has proved to be a crucial cog lately in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side, racking up 18 goals and five assists across all competitions this season, raising plenty of eyebrows over the course of the last few weeks. He has even been compared to Cristiano Ronaldo and dubbed as a star who can emulate the Portuguese’s talent.
It is expected that Greenwood will continue his progression under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who once was a lethal striker for Manchester United.
While commenting on Greenwood’s abilities, a former academy graduate in Gary Neville said, “He can be anything he wants to be.”
The manager believes ‘the sky’s the limit’ for Mason Greenwood, and the world, with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo edging towards their swansongs, is waiting for the next generational talent with an empty podium. Greenwood is about to step in.
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Don’t you think the rise of Mason Greenwood has been the biggest positive for United in the 2019-20 season?