"Mason Greenwood, 17 years of age, yeah, you are for me," said Ole Gunnar Solskjaer before Manchester United's game against Everton.
"We want to give you a chance to become a top player at this club."
And so with United in full-on crisis mode following a 4-0 shellacking at Goodison Park that triggered an outpouring of mass hysteria, the calls for Greenwood's further involvement in the first team have grown even louder. Out with the old, in with the new, goes the old adage and it's never as popular in football as when a team are struggling like United right now.
Play the kids, that's the rallying cry many resort to in times of trouble and it wouldn't come as a surprise were Solskjaer to call upon Greenwood to feature against Manchester City on Wednesday night and against Chelsea on Sunday.
Greenwood's outstanding record for United's youth teams — enhanced by yet another brace for United's Under-18s on Saturday — mean the case for his inclusion isn't without warrant. You can't ignore 29 goals and 28 games, with 12 assists added in for good measure. Throw in the fact that Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard and Romelu Lukaku all appear woefully out of form, with United struggling for goals and Greenwood's case grows stronger.
United haven't scored in open play since their opener against Wolves in the FA Cup quarter-final at the start of this month.
But they'd be wrong to usher in Greenwood at this stage.
Solskjaer will be seriously tempted, but he must resist and ideally wait until the start of next season when hopefully a more stable environment will prove more conducive to Greenwood's first team development.
Liverpool FC defender Virgil van Dijk claims Manchester United need to do themselves a favour
The one positive Manchester United should take from their Everton epiphany
This is, let's not forget, an extraordinarily young footballer who has played just 28 minutes of senior football in his career.
Okay, Greenwood will have been emboldened by his involvement in the Paris Saint-Germain miracle, but to throw a 17-year-old footballer into the cauldron of a Manchester derby in which United will likely be swamped by a rampant City side, would be bordering on the unfair.
Even if Greenwood doesn't play on Wednesday night, there will be calls for him to face Chelsea at the weekend in another crucial game for United's top four hopes. Again, this isn't the right situation for the teenager to thrive and prove himself. If he does play in these games and falters, it could set his career back months, even years.
If Solskjaer and United appreciate the gem they have in Greenwood — and it appears they do — then they will make the right call and leave him on the sidelines for now.
Perhaps the final two games of the season against Huddersfield and Cardiff City, depending on United's situation, will be more up Greenwood's alley. Even then if those two matches prove to be top-four shoot-outs, they might not be right for Greenwood.
It may be more prudent to monitor Greenwood pre-season and install him as a valued member of the squad for next season.
Many will cite the example of Marcus Rashford whose thrilling 2016 derby destruction of Martin Demichelis announced him as a United mainstay for years to come.
Context is everything, however, and that's why United should wait with Greenwood. Time is on his side.
