Bukayo Saka and Mason Greenwood: A look at the next two of England's golden generation making th

England could be mistaken for a football factory at the moment with the number of high quality English players that are being produced and the latest two that seem to be making the headlines are 18-year-old Bukayo Saka and 17-year-old Mason Greenwood. English football fans are reaping the rewards of the generation of the 21st century with the breakthroughs of players like Phil Foden and Jadon Sancho and Greenwood along with Saka seem to be following suit, with both already holding competitive goals to their names.

Mason Greenwood, born 1st October 2001 in Bradford, first caught the eyes of United fans when he made his U18 Manchester United debut aged just 15, playing two years above his age group. The striker scored an eye catching 16 goals in 17 games for the Red Devils in the U18 PL getting 4 assists to go with an already impressive record.

In the following 2018/19 season, he played in a variety of age groups, ranging from the U18 Premier League side all the way to the Manchester United senior side in what was a meteoric rise for the 17 year old, topped off by making his debut in the UEFA Champions League away to PSG. Greenwood finished the season with 26 goals in 30 games in all competitions, setting himself up for a breakthrough 2019/20 season.

Bukayo Saka, born 5th September 2001 in London, is a predominantly left sided player for Arsenal who, like Greenwood, caught the eye of the Arsenal fans playing for the U18 side. Aged just 16, Bukayo Saka struck an 85th minute equaliser at Anfield in the FA Youth Cup to help knock out Steven Gerrard's U18 Liverpool side, who had been unbeaten all season, with this being the moment that Saka really announced himself onto the youth stage. The pacey 16 year old winger racked up 11 goal contributions in just 14 games for the Arsenal U18 Premier League side and despite his seemingly weak frame, the clever use of his body allowed him to match up against older opponents, something that becomes very useful in the future.

With his excellent U18 performances, he was swiftly promoted to the U23s having just turned 17 years old. Similar to Greenwood, the 2018/19 season was a big season for him as he grabbed 13 goal contributions in 20 U23 Premier League 2 games, a very good return for a winger and one that earned him a professional debut in both the Europa League and Premier League for Arsenal's senior side. With two excellent seasons from Saka and Greenwood, the current 2019/20 season became one of great prospect for duo, one they have so far taken advantage of.

Mason Greenwood and Bukayo Saka have a combined 7 senior appearances already for their clubs despite only being in September with the pair also sharing 4 goal contributions between them. Bukayo Saka earned his first Premier League start against Aston Villa this week while Mason Greenwood looks set to earn his due to the striker crisis at United, against Arsenal's Bukayo Saka, when the two teams meet in a week at Old Trafford.

Incredibly, their first competitive senior goals both came on the same day and in the same competition, as Greenwood scored United's winner against Kazakh side Astana at Old Trafford, while Saka was involved in all three of Arsenal's goals away at Frankfurt scoring once and assisting twice. Greenwood's goal involved him driving at the Astana left back, committing him with a fake shot and cutting back onto his right before firing a weak footed strike through the legs of the keeper. Meanwhile Bukayo Saka hit a curling effort from 25 yards out, beating the Bundesliga Team of the Season goalkeeper from last season Kevin Trapp with an emphatic strike that left Arsenal fans purring at the 18-year-old's quality.

In an interview with Football.London in April, U23 coach at the time Freddie Ljungberg, now assistant to Unai Emery, seemed to agree with the excited Arsenal fans, stating, "Bukayo [Saka] can be a top talent. Other boys will play it out from the back and find pockets. We can feed Bukayo, and then he'll be in a situation further up the field where he can be a game changer."

Without a doubt, Saka is rated very highly internally at Arsenal and the same can be said for Mason Greenwood at Manchester United as senior manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said after the youngster opened his senior goal scoring account: "He is going to be important. We always know that in and around the box he's one of the best finishers we've got". Some very high praise from a Manchester United legend will certainly mean a lot to him and according to reports, the youngster's fine form has earned him a new five year contract at Old Trafford as Solskjaer admits "We are always in talks with the boys about how we see the future. Mason is one we want to keep with us".

So what does the future hold for the two English starlets? Without a shadow of doubt, the future looks very bright for the pair. Scoring their first senior goals aged 17 and 18 respectively definitely helps them stand out from the crowd a bit and I, along with many Arsenal and United fans, feel certain that this won't be the last that we see these two on the score sheet. Furthermore, with Mason Greenwood also earning his first call up to the England U21s and Saka's surely to follow soon, if their game time remains consistent, who's to say that a call up to the senior team is out of reach for either of them?

*all stats were taken from transfermarkt