Greenwood lands Young Player award for 2018/19

Mason Greenwood has been named Manchester United's Jimmy Murphy Youth Team Player of the Year for 2018/19.

The 17-year-old striker has been rewarded for scoring 30 goals across the age groups after shining for the Under-18s, Under-19s and Under-23s.

After making his first-team debut against Paris Saint-Germain, and also getting off the bench against Arsenal and West Ham United, it has been an excellent campaign for the England Under-18 international.

Greenwood finished ahead of fellow contenders James Garner and Welsh midfielder Dylan Levitt, after thousands of the club's supporters voted in our official app.

The centre-forward scored on his Premier League 2 debut at Wolves and rounded off the campaign at that level with a superb free-kick against Newcastle United at St James' Park, followed by a clinical finish in the reverse fixture against Wolves at Leigh Sports Village.

He was the Under-18s' leading marksman for a second successive campaign iand is still eligible to play for Neil Ryan's team in 2019/20.

Tahith Chong and Angel Gomes, two of Greenwood's team-mates in the Under-23s and UEFA Youth League, are the most recent previous recipients of the prestigious award.

Marcus Rashford won it in 2015/16, while Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Wes Brown are all among the big names who claimed the trophy in the past.

Scroll down for Greenwood's reaction...

WHAT MASON SAID ON STAGE

“I think it’s been an enjoyable season,” the young striker told Dion Dublin. “But I’ve had help from the coaches and my team-mates, so if it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be up here tonight.”

Asked how he has produced such lethal form up front, Greenwood continued: “Well I just work hard on finishing after every training session. I just try and score in all the training games, so that helps me and I just try and do it in the games.”

With Marcus Rashford watching on, our award-winner spoke glowingly about his idol: “He is an inspiration for all the Academy. It’s nice to see that someone can make it and we all want to have the same journey that he has.”

So what is next for Mason Greenwood? “Hopefully more chances in the first-team to show what I can do,” he said. “But I am going to carry on working hard until then.”