EDISON Cavani’s headed goal in Sunday’s 3-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur exemplified why Manchester United were so keen to add the veteran striker to their ranks this season. The subtlety and speed of his decades-honed movement enabled him to steal a march on his marker, and the finish into the bottom corner of Hugo Lloris’ goal was typically emphatic.

Yet, with the season entering its final weeks, there are likely to be few more instances of the Uruguayan’s penalty-box mastery seen at Old Trafford. Reports suggest the 34-year-old has determined to leave United at the end of the campaign in favour of a return to South America. And with Anthony Martial, currently injured, having endured a season of poor form, rumblings are emerging of a blockbuster summer move for either Borussia Dortmund wunderkind Erling Haaland or Harry Kane to head United’s frontline.

Both, though, would be extremely expensive, likely to cost more than £100m. Every top club in Europe eying 20-year-old Haaland, and Spurs chairman Daniel Level a notoriously tough negotiator. As such, United might need to seek an alternative. And few reasonable alternatives appear as ready-made for the role as the man who supplied the cross for Cavani to score against Tottenham.  

(☀️) Harry Kane is next on United’s list (after Haaland ), but Utd would not do business at the proposed £120M fee mooted within the industry. It is understood that Daniel Levy will not sell Kane to another English club under any circumstances. [@David_Ornstein] #THFC #MUFC pic.twitter.com/zkrNs7s53T

— RouteOneFootball (@Route1futbol) April 12, 2021

Since making his first-team debut in 2018-19, Mason Greenwood has largely been deployed on the right wing. But as he rose through United’s youth ranks, scoring prolifically at every level, he did so as a striker; and an uncommonly well-rounded one at that.

He had the physique to hold off defenders, the speed to burst clear, the dribbling ability to create space where there appeared to be none and, most impressively, an invaluable two-footedness which allowed him to find the corner of the goal, powerfully and accurately, from any distance or angle.

Greenwood has featured fleetingly at centre-forward at first-team level, but Solskjaer has seen fit for the 19-year-old forward to round out his game and acclimate to senior football from a wide position. It is a common developmental tactic. A large number of natural central players make inroads in the senior game from the flanks. There, they are stationed away from the congestion and bustle of the middle of the park while their bodies adapt to the rigours of the men’s game. They are perceived as less of a threat to their own team when out wide, too, more able to indulge the trial-and-error process inherent in learning the finer technical and tactical workings of elite football.

And those whose eyes are trained most keenly on Greenwood’s development are delighted with the progress he has made from the wing over the last 18 months.

“He’s receiving the ball in these half spaces, the tight spaces between the lines,” observed Darren Fletcher, United’s recently appointed technical director, speaking to GQ after April’s 2-0 Europa League victory over Granada. “The timing of his movement where he doesn’t even need body contact to do it, the cleanness of his touches, both feet and his balance and retaining possession for someone so young shows great maturity. That he knows when to play simple and let the game come to him rather than chasing the game is fantastic. 

“He knows the right moments when to dribble, take people on, get shots off. He understands his role in link-up play and not forcing the issue.”

Still, Greenwood has struggled at times this season. After scoring 17 all-competitions goals in his breakthrough 2019-20 campaign, he’s netted just seven this term. There was a run of 26 appearances in which he managed to score only once, too, and he has scored just three Premier League goals in 1,405 minutes of action in 2020-21, compared with 10 in 1,313 minutes last season.

Whether he had fallen victim to the dreaded second-season syndrome, or whether off-field indiscipline – such as his breach on Covid-19 protocols while on international duty in September – was stunting his footballing growth, the youngster had hit a plateau.

Assist and a goal for Mason Greenwood pic.twitter.com/wKvtT8iS9L

— United Zone (@ManUnitedZone_) April 11, 2021

But Greenwood has fought through his first experience of developmental traction to emerge again as a decisive player for United. Off the bench to assist and score against Spurs, he has now hit the net three times in his last four games.

His manager has taken notice of this recent improvement, too, even suggesting a return to his natural position could be in Greenwood’s near future.

“It’s there for everyone to see that his general play has improved so much,” Solskjaer told GQ. “His fitness, his body shape is different. He can link play better, hold it up for us. He creates more chances for others. 

“Last season he burst onto the scene and he was unknown for everyone. Now they [opponents] have seen him. They want to push him inside, or different defenders have tried to work him out. That’s the good thing with Mason: he’s realised that defenders have tried to work him out and he’s been working on different ways of getting his finishing off. He’s added more movement when he’s playing centre-forward.”

If United were to sign Haaland this summer, they would undoubtedly be acquiring a player capable of prolific returns for the next decade. But they would also be blocking the development of one of their most promising stars in waiting. Installing Greenwood as their first-choice No.9, though, and giving the gifted teenager the keys to United’s attack would open the way for a resumption of their pursuit of Jadon Sancho.

United were priced out of a move for the England winger last year when Dortmund refused to budge on their €120m asking price. Now, facing the prospect of missing out on Champions League football next season, the German side are believed to have lowered their demands, valuating Sancho in a similar price range to the £85m United spent to sign Harry Maguire two years ago. While still a hefty fee, this would make Sancho a less expensive option – and with less competition for his signature – than BVB colleague Haaland, yet no less of a potentially transformative addition.

If Cavani can’t be convinced to stay another year, it’s time for United to give Greenwood the green light to lead the line.