Former Manchester United captain Rio Ferdinand has likened the club's teenage attacker Mason Greenwood to ex-Red Devils striker Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Greenwood has had a spell out of the side in recent weeks due to illness, but he returned off the bench against Istanbul Basaksehir in the Champions League on Tuesday night, providing the assist for Daniel James to score a fourth in the latter stages of the 4-1 win.

The 19-year-old has registered twice in nine appearances for United this season, while he has struck 19 goals in 62 outings for the 20-time English champions in all competitions since his debut.

Ferdinand has claimed that the England international is "going to be a beast" when he has fully developed physically, and the 42-year-old also compared Greenwood to the club's former striker Van Nistelrooy, who scored 150 times in 219 appearances under Sir Alex Ferguson.

"Look at him (Greenwood), he's growing as well. He's going to be a beast to go with the technique he's got, the understanding, his spacial awareness, he plays off both feet," Ferdinand told BT Sport.

"I want to go and watch training. That's what he gets out of me. I want to go and watch his technique, him lashing balls into the back of the net. We talk about Ruud van Nistelrooy, it excites you when you see finishers that finish aggressively, but with precision. He has that in abundance."

Greenwood could make his first Premier League appearance since the start of November when United travel to Southampton on Sunday afternoon.