Every now and then a talent comes along that even the first team players, who are often deliberately hard to impress, cannot ignore. The buzz around Mason Greenwood at Manchester United had brought him to the attention of the senior squad long before he began training with them. It is said that they would show each other footage of him banging in goals - left foot, right foot, it didn’t matter - on their phones in the dressing room and several were impressed enough to take a first hand look at what all the fuss was about by attending some of his games at the club’s Carrington training base.

In a week when Ravel Morrison, once touted by Sir Alex Ferguson as the most talented homegrown product he had laid eyes on, joined Sheffield United on a one-year deal as he bids to salvage a career that promised so much but has delivered precious little, caution and perspective are necessary where Greenwood is concerned. Morrison was tipped for stardom but ended up playing in Mexico and Sweden before Chris Wilder decided to gamble and bring him to Bramall Lane.

So many young prodigies have been subjected to the Old Trafford hype machine yet the reality is very few hit the heights hoped for them at a club with as rich traditions of youth development as any in Europe. Will it be different for Greenwood? No one can say with any certainty but, on the evidence of what we have seen so far, he seems to have a better chance than most.