Manchester United are faced with a decision: what to do with Mason Greenwood: keep him, loan him or get rid of him permanently? It’s a question that has hung over the club for almost two and a half years and despite a season on loan in Spain with Getafe, the question of the 22-year-old striker’s future is once again preoccupying minds at Old Trafford.
Greenwood’s season-long loan at Getafe ends next month, and sources have told ESPN that Greenwood’s future is as uncertain as it was 12 months ago. But with Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos Group now controlling United’s football operations after acquiring a 27.7% stake from the Glazer family in February, all options are being considered as to what happens next. This means, according to sources, that apart from the possibility of another loan or permanent departure from the club, there is a scenario in which Greenwood returns to United in the summer and is reinstated into the squad.
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Greenwood has not played for United since appearing in a 1-0 Premier League win over West Ham United at Old Trafford in January 2022. A week later, he was arrested on suspicion of rape and assault, the Greater Manchester police confirming the existence of “images and videos on social media posted by a woman reporting incidents of physical violence. United immediately suspended the 20-year-old from training and matches” until new order”.
In October that year, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced that Greenwood would be charged with attempted rape, controlling and coercive behavior and assault occasioning actual bodily harm, with a trial date set for November 2023 But the CPS dropped all charges. against Greenwood in February 2023 due to “a combination of the removal of key witnesses and new evidence coming to light, which meant there was no longer a realistic prospect of conviction”.
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United subsequently announced it would undertake its own internal investigation. This ended on 0 August 2023, with the club announcing that Greenwood would not resume his career at Old Trafford. United said in a statement: “Everyone involved, including Mason, recognizes the difficulties he will have in resuming his career at Manchester United. It was therefore mutually agreed that it would be more appropriate for him to do so away of Old Trafford, and we will now work with Mason to achieve this result.
Greenwood’s loan move to Getafe was finalized in the final hours of the 2023 summer transfer window, but rather than closing the book on a complicated situation for United, it simply delayed a definitive outcome. Once Getafe’s season ends with a La Liga match against Mallorca on May 26, United must make another decision.
United’s internal concerns over the reaction of the club’s women’s team to the prospect of Greenwood returning to play for the men’s team were a significant factor in the decision not to reinstate him to the team. last summer. The threat of reputational damage to the club – and, by association, its many sponsors and partners – also contributed to his departure, albeit temporarily, from Old Trafford, while some United supporters made their opposition clear. what Greenwood plays for the club. Again. Those issues remain, but some elements have changed since last autumn, including the arrival of Ratcliffe’s Ineos Group as decision-maker on the football side of the club.
When asked about Greenwood’s future in February, Ratcliffe made it clear all options were on the table. He said: “He is a Manchester United footballer and we are in charge of football. So the answer is ‘yes, we have to make decisions’. It is clear that we have to make a decision. No decision has been made. been made. The process will be: understand the facts and not the hype, then try to make a fair decision based on values, which is essentially “is he a good guy or not?” to play sincerely for Manchester United, would we be comfortable with that and would the fans be comfortable with that?”
Sources told ESPN that Barcelona and Atlético Madrid had expressed interest in signing Greenwood, but Barcelona’s attention has waned in recent months. Earlier this year, senior Barca officials discussed Greenwood with John Murtough, who this week left his role as United’s director of football.
Atlético and Juventus remain potential options for a permanent deal, but sources have said United’s expectations of a transfer fee in the region of £30million are unrealistic due to financial restrictions across the ‘Europe. Interested clubs also believe United cannot legitimately expect a significant fee for Greenwood.
Another loan agreement is the easiest route. At Getafe, Greenwood has six goals and five assists in 25 La Liga appearances, and club president Angel Torres wants to negotiate with United to extend the player’s stay at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez for another year. In the event of another loan move, United would likely trigger the 12-month contract extension to keep Greenwood at the club until 2026, opening the prospect of a permanent transfer next summer.
The latter option would perhaps involve postponing the decision again, but sources have told ESPN that United would not consider the alternative – a permanent transfer below the player’s valuation – simply to draw a line under the situation. . United declined to comment for this story.
Sources said Greenwood and his family settled well in Spain, with initial fears of hostility quickly disappearing. Although Greenwood is happy in Spain, the economics of football could force him to return to England this summer if United fail to find him a new club. A permanent transfer remains the favored option, but Greenwood’s return to the United squad has not been ruled out, and this appears to be a significant change from the club’s stance last August.
One important factor that has been made clear to ESPN by sources is that no decision has been made on the future of a player who was once considered one of the most exciting young talents in world football; he scored more goals for United as a teenager than Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcus Rashford.
It is also accepted that many difficult issues will need to be resolved if Greenwood is to return to the club as a first-team member. Yet the current reality is that this could happen. Mason Greenwood playing for Manchester United again is unlikely, but not impossible.
