Comparing Mason Greenwood's Scoring Record to Current Superstars at the Same Stage of Their Career

Mason Greenwood played his 50th game for Manchester United this week, marking the occasion with another goal as he continues a sensational breakout season.

The 18-year-old now has 17 goals to show for those 50 appearances, an impressive tally that could yet grow by the time the 2019/20 campaign comes to an end.

Here’s a look at how Greenwood compares to six currently active superstars and one still active Manchester United legend at the same stage of their respective careers, 50 games in.

Wayne Rooney

Wayne Rooney is United’s all-time record goalscorer that Greenwood will ultimately have in his sights should he fulfil the potential he has shown so far in his fledgling career. The former captain reached set that record during his final months at Old Trafford and finished on 253.

Rooney was still an Everton player and had only just turned 18 when he made his 50th first-team appearance. His defining breakout moment was an iconic winning goal against Arsenal in October 2002, although his first goals had come earlier in the League Cup against Wrexham.

Career Goals at 50 Appearances: 9

Erling Haaland

Erling Haaland is among the best young strikers in the world and has an enormous future ahead of him. By the time he had played 50 senior games he was still playing in his native Norway, having started out by making his debut at second tier Bryne while still only 15.

Haaland was still two weeks shy of turning 18 when he played the 50th game of his career and marked it by scoring twice in a 5-1 Molde win over Valerenga. In his 49th appearance he’d scored all four goals in a similar 4-0 thrashing of Brann. It was then that his numbers really exploded.

Career Goals at 50 Appearances: 12

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is still going at the age of 38 and has scored over 480 club goals in his career to date, arguably not becoming a truly prolific striker until his late 20s. He then upped his game considerably more in that sense when he turned 30.

As a young player, Ibrahimovic began at home town club Malmo and played 47 times before making the move to Ajax in 2001. He obviously quickly reached his 50th game milestone in Amsterdam and actually found the net twice in those first three appearances.

Career Goals at 50 Appearances: 20

Robert Lewandowski

Robert Lewandowski’s break at first-team level came when Polish giants Legia Warsaw sold him to third division club Znicz Pruszkow for the equivalent of just €1,250 in 2006. He was immediately top scorer in Poland’s third tier en-route to promotion and was then top scorer in the second.

That form saw top flight Lech Poznan take a chance on the youngster in 2008 and he has remained prolific for more than a decade ever since. But by the time he made the step up with Poznan, Lewandowski was already well past 50 senior appearances, all in lower league football.

Career Goals at 50 Appearances: 28

Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi truly became an unbelievable goalscorer as have known for more than a decade - netting over 700 times for Barcelona and Argentina to date - from the age of 21. In his very early days at 17 and 18 he was still capable of goals but was also finding his feet.

Messi made his 50th first-team appearance for Barça during the 2006/07 season soon after a lengthy injury layoff with a fractured foot. It was then also quite soon after that milestone that the goals actually started to come at a more regular pace.

Career Goals at 50 Appearances: 13

*not including games for Barcelona B or C

Cristiano Ronaldo

Despite now being on course to surpass Pele in the scoring stakes (not including the Brazilian’s hundreds of unofficial goals), Cristiano Ronaldo was very much a winger when he first started out at Sporting CP and then Manchester United.

Goals were a relative rarity for Ronaldo at that stage in his career and he didn’t manage double figures across all competitions in a season until after he turned 21. From then on he exploded until a point where he was regularly getting at least 50 goals every season for Real Madrid.

Career Goals at 50 Appearances: 6

*not including games for Sporting CP B

Kylian Mbappe

Kylian Mbappe is perhaps the biggest young superstar since Ronaldo – O Fenômeno – in the mid-1990s. The Frenchman was 16 at the time of his senior debut for Monaco in December 2015 and 17 by the time he became a first-team regular the following season.

Before reaching his 50th senior appearance Monaco, which was not long before Paris Saint-Germain secured a transfer worth up to €180m, Mbappe was already adept at finding the net. In the immediate run up to his 50th game, he scored five times in four Champions League knockout games.

Career Goals at 50 Appearances: 23

*not including games for Monaco B

For more from Jamie Spencer, follow him on Twitter and Facebook!