Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has said Mason Greenwood must master the art of heading if he is to evolve into a ‘No 9’ at Manchester United.
Greenwood scored his first goal of the season as a substitute, along with fellow England international Marcus Rashford, in United’s 3-0 win at Luton in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday.
Former United forward Solskjaer is confident Greenwood will continue to develop his physical presence and improve his all-round game as the 18-year-old looks to move on from an off-field incident in Iceland which saw him sent home from international duty for breaching Covid guidelines.
“He had a fantastic season last season,” Solskjaer told the club’s website.
“And to get his goal now was important for him. And Marcus. It always is with strikers, to get that confidence and feeling of scoring, to get that hunger again. So I’m very happy with that, he just needs to work to get his fitness and sharpness back.
“He can play through the middle as well. I think, as a young boy, not physically grown yet, it is nice to be facing forward rather than being the No 9, the foil; being the battering ram if you like.
“So I think he’ll end up as a No 9 in the end, probably. But he’s so good with his right and left [foot], so he can come in off his right and left, or through the middle. I scored most of my goals from just outside the post as well, I wasn’t like in the middle.
“For him to be a No 9, though, he needs to learn how to head the ball. I keep telling him that and, if he wants to do that, he’s welcome to come and practice with me.”
