Manchester United's Mason Greenwood Says Wayne Rooney, Ronaldo His Role Models

Manchester United forward Mason Greenwood has revealed his role models in the game are Red Devils legend Wayne Rooney and former Brazil striker Ronaldo. 

The 18-year-old has broken into United's senior side since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took charge as manager last season.

Greenwood told reporters he's looking to emulate his idols:

"Wayne Rooney and the Brazilian Ronaldo have always stood out for me. I've always looked up to them.

"Rooney is such a great goalscorer, that is what I want to be. He's done most things on a football pitch and you have to have a role model.

On Ronaldo, he added: "Ronaldo was quite a while ago—but my dad used to show me clips of him. He used to play for all those great teams."

Greenwood also said former United striker Solskjaer and team-mate Marcus Rashford are among his role models, and he wants to follow in the latter's footsteps. Rashford, 22, is a fellow academy graduate who broke into the first team at Old Trafford at a similar age.

As for Rooney or Ronaldo, Greenwood could do much worse than emulate their illustrious careers.

The former is United's all-time record goalscorer with 253 in 559 games for the club. He's also England's top scorer with 53 in 120 appearances.

The latter won the FIFA World Cup twice with Brazil, with whom he scored 62 times in 98 outings. His club career saw him enjoy notable spells at Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Barcelona—where he plundered 47 goals in just 49 games—among others.

Greenwood has played 13 times for the Red Devils this season. He's started four games, scoring three times.

His most recent goal came against Partizan Belgrade in the UEFA Europa League (U.S. and UK only, respectively):

Bleacher Report's Rob Blanchette believes he's the most ruthless finisher in United's squad:

The day after his goal, Solskjaer compared Greenwood to former Red Devils and Arsenal striker Robin van Persie:

Comparisons with the likes of Rooney or Ronaldo may be premature, but the teenager is an exciting prospect with potential in abundance, and he has benefited from United's decision to part with Romelu Lukaku in the summer without bringing in another striker to replace him.

He's not likely to unseat Rashford or Anthony Martial given their current form. Rashford has nine goals in his last 10 games for club and country, while Martial has scored three goals and provided two assists in the five starts he's made for United since returning from injury in October.

Greenwood showed against Partizan he can play effectively alongside the pair, though.

United play 12 fixtures between Sunday and January 1, so the youngster should get several opportunities as Solskjaer looks to keep his squad as fresh as possible during the busy festive period.