THREAD: Sam Greenwood is set to join Leeds from Arsenal after 2 years with the London club. The former Sunderland man who turned 18 in January has been a regular for Arsenal under 18’s and recently broke into their under 23’s side. #LUFC #MOT

Greenwood is predominantly a striker but has played a number of games at right wing and as a number 10 at Arsenal, particularly in his first season. In the 2 years he’s been there, he’s scored 15 goals in 39 under 18 appearances.

Sam is also a England youth international, representing his country at under 17’s and under 18’s level. His record for England’s under 17’s is very impressive, netting 12 goals in just 14 games. As his numbers would suggest, he’s a natural finisher.

One of his main attributes is the fact that he is two footed. He often takes free-kick with either foot depending on the distance and angle, as the two examples below show. One free kick with his right ended in a goal, the other with his left nearly landed him with an assist.

This allows him in open play to trouble defences as they can’t really show him on to his weaker foot because he doesn’t have one. Combine this with his quick feet and ability to find space, you have yourself a very technical forward.

Greenwood has been playing under 18’s football since he was 15 at Sunderland so can certainly hold his own and looks after the ball well. This is helped by having a good first touch and awareness of what’s around him.

He is comfortable receiving the ball to feet with his back to goal and working space for either a shot or pass even when under pressure. The passage of play below shows that, a good first touch before playing between two players to his teammate out wide.

Whether he plays as a striker or out wide, he likes to drop slightly deeper to pick up the ball and be involved in attacks. He plays with his head up and has great vision, as the example below shows, playing in his team to score on the second attempt.

He did however struggle slightly last season for consistency but this is something that is common in young players. Also doesn’t score many goals with his head, so something he needs to work on so that he can become a more well rounded footballer.

Leeds will be getting themselves a player that is very hardworking and happy to put the time in after training to improve his skill set. Also with a more up north means that he will be closer to home and his family which should help with him settling in at Leeds.

There wasn’t much footage available and the bits that was often had poor camera angles so decided to just do a thread instead of an article. As always spread the word with a retweet, please

The report/link by @PhilHay_