Down the road from where Mason Greenwood grew up is a Costcutter newsagents, and behind the till works a young lad by the name of Oliver Arundale. “I always envisioned somebody would do a piece,” he says when The Athletic arrives for a visit.



His premonition came from seeing up close Greenwood’s early dedication to scoring goals from all angles, something that has been known at Manchester United’s academy for years and that supporters at Old Trafford are now bearing witness to as well.



It was there against Everton on Sunday, through a goal Greenwood might well try to copyright soon. Whenever he receives the ball on the right side of the area, there is a sense of inevitability about the outcome. He might cut left, he might cut right — and he might shoot off either foot — but, with startling regularity, the ball ends up in the net.



Against Everton, his finish from 20 yards, which passed through the legs of Yerry Mina, rescued...