Manchester United’s Mason Greenwood continues to make headlines following a phenomenal debut season at Old Trafford, the teenager having risen through the academy ranks to make an immediate impact in the Premier League.
Greenwood’s double in the weekend win over Bournemouth took the 18-year-old’s tally to eight Premier League goals for the season, but where does the young forward rank alongside the most prolific teenage talents in the division’s history?
Here are the five players aged 18 or under to score the most goals in a Premier League season:
Mason Greenwood – 8 goals* (2019/20)
Greenwood’s exploits this season have seen the youngster become one of the Premier League’s most prolific teenagers, with just three players aged 18 or under having managed more goals in a single campaign.
The 18-year-old has quickly demonstrated he has the talent to thrive at the highest level of English football, a brilliantly natural finisher who is equally capable off either foot.
The highest of praise for Mason Greenwood ? pic.twitter.com/2CRLXQ8qbn
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) July 4, 2020
Greenwood’s eight league goals have remarkably come in just eight starts, whilst his tally for the campaign now stands at 15 goals in all competitions – the highest any teenager has managed for Manchester United since Wayne Rooney in the 2004/05 campaign.
United have a long and illustrious history of producing young talent, and Greenwood is amongst the most exciting to have emerged from the hallowed Old Trafford ranks in recent years.
Michael Owen – 9 goals (1998/99)
Michael Owen burst onto the scene as a teenage talent and quickly began to terrorise Premier League defences, becoming a regular with the England side and starring at the World Cup as an 18-year-old in 1998.
Owen features on this list following a prolific 1998/99 season in which he claimed the Premier League’s Golden Boot, scoring 18 league goals for Liverpool – exactly half of which came before his 19th birthday.
The 18-year-old Owen was blessed with lightning pace and an unshakeable self-confidence when presented with goalscoring opportunities, the forward finishing the season with 23 goals in all competitions and status as one of the division’s best despite his tender years.
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Wayne Rooney – 9 goals (2003/04)
Arguably the most exciting introduction in Premier League history, Wayne Rooney announced himself to the footballing world as a precociously talented 16-year-old at boyhood side Everton.
He scored his first Premier League goal in stunning style against Arsenal in October 2002, before growing in importance and status on Merseyside and becoming a key figure during the 2003/04 season.
That season saw the 18-year-old score nine league goals and establish himself as a regular in the England side, in what proved to be his final campaign at Goodison Park before a move to Manchester United that saw him become the most expensive teenager in football history.
The teenager would deliver on his vast potential during a glittering career at Old Trafford, winning 11 major honours and becoming the all-time record goalscorer for both club and country.
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Robbie Fowler – 10 goals (1993/94)
The second Liverpool academy graduate to feature on this list of teenage talents, Robbie Fowler caused great excitement within Reds’ circles when scoring prolifically for their youth sides.
He would not have to wait long for a first-team debut and subsequently seized his opportunity, scoring on his debut against Fulham in the League Cup before making headlines with a five-goal haul against the same opposition in the return leg.
Fowler’s goalscoring exploits led to inclusion in the club’s Premier League side and he scored 12 goals in his first 13 appearances in all competitions for the club, whilst rifling home 10 league goals during the 1993/94 campaign.
That haul included a hat-trick against Southampton and two goals in a memorable 2-2 draw with Tottenham, Fowler’s double digit haul the second-highest of any player aged 18 or under in a single Premier League season.
Michael Owen – 18 goals (1997/98)
Michael Owen’s first full season as a Liverpool player saw the forward become the first teenager in history to win the Premier League’s Golden Boot, the forward hitting 18 league goals to finish as the division’s leading scorer alongside Blackburn’s Chris Sutton and Aston Villa target man Dion Dublin.
Owen had made his debut towards the end of the previous campaign and began the new season as the Reds’ chief attacking threat, scoring on the opening day of the season against Wimbledon before continuing to fire throughout the course of the campaign.
He finished the season with 23 goals in all competitions to be named as the PFA Young Player of the Year and Premier League Player of the Season alongside his Golden Boot accolade, an incredible breakthrough season for the teenager and the most prolific of any player aged 18 or under in the competition’s history.
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