Manchester United have accepted an offer from Marseille for Mason Greenwood — but it is now up to the player to decide if he wants to join the French club.
They would pay an initial fixed transfer fee of €27.6million (£23.3m), with an additional €4m (£3.4m) to be made via potential add-ons, taking the overall package to €31.6m (£26.7m). The Premier League side will also retain a large share of any future sale.
There are no guarantees that Greenwood, 22, will join the Ligue 1 side, who have brought in Roberto De Zerbi as manager after his departure from Brighton but who cannot offer European football next season after finishing eighth.
Should the forward reject the proposal, then it may leave him in an awkward position regarding pre-season training.
As it stands, Greenwood is not participating in Erik ten Hag’s sessions and has not trained at Carrington since his arrest in January 2022 for attempted rape, assault and coercive control. He was suspended by United and made available for transfer once the club confirmed in August 2023 that they had abandoned a plan to reintegrate him. He denied all allegations.
The Athletic explains Greenwood’s situation and what the options are if a departure does not progress swiftly.
What happened with Greenwood this week?
Greenwood arrived at Carrington, the club’s training base, on Monday morning, which coincided with the first day of pre-season training.
He wasn’t there to train, though. Greenwood met with members of United’s football leadership team to discuss his future and then left the training ground shortly after. There was never any anticipation he would train, and Greenwood did not turn up thinking he would be part of the first session back.
The meeting was viewed as constructive and was designed to continue talks over his future, with the club seeking a permanent sale.
On Monday, United were still in advanced talks with potential suitors — and had yet to accept an offer — so it was decided it would be better if Greenwood stayed away from training while they sought to conclude a sale.
Who is interested in signing Greenwood?
The most advanced contact is from Marseille but Italian clubs Juventus and Lazio are also interested, while Germany’s Borussia Dortmund have previously tracked the forward.
On Tuesday, De Zerbi, the former Brighton & Hove Albion manager now in charge of Marseille, was asked about the possibility of signing Greenwood.
“He wasn’t signed so there’s not much to say,” De Zerbi said. “He’s a champion, a world-class player. I don’t know what happened, I don’t focus on private life.
“When a player signs for the club, I consider him my child and even if I can pull his ear in private, I will defend him publicly. My players are like my sons.”
De Zerbi has spoken positively of Greenwood (Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images)
What has the reaction been to Marseille’s offer being accepted?
After it was revealed by The Athletic that United had accepted Marseille’s proposal, Benoit Payan, the Marseille mayor, was interviewed by French radio station RMC and indicated he would try to block the deal.
“I will ask the president of Olympique de Marseille not to recruit Greenwood,” Payan said. “I don’t want my club to be covered in the shame. It’s not acceptable.
“He (Pablo Longoria, the club’s president) knows, in any case, what my convictions and my opinions are. And I’ve already told him that our history and our club is made up of people who come from different backgrounds.
“It is unbearable. I cannot imagine for a second that Pablo Longoria would make this major mistake.”
Following the news of Marseille’s interest and initial talks with United, OM Forum, a fans’ forum, posted a lengthy statement under the headline ‘Greenwood not welcome’ and the same words were used as a protest on social media.
A part of OM Forum’s statement read: “The management led by Pablo Longoria seems to have decided that only the end justifies the means and that all talents are good to take to achieve sporting excellence, in defiance of the beautiful efforts made by the club in recent years, in particular through its foundation, in accordance with the social role it has in the city.”
How did we get to this point?
Greenwood has not trained at Carrington since his arrest for attempted rape, assault and coercive control in January 2022. He denied all allegations.
United suspended him and released the following statement: “Mason Greenwood will not return to training or play matches until further notice.”
In February 2023, the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service discontinued the case against him when key witnesses withdrew their cooperation.
United conducted an internal review and were planning to reintegrate him into the first-team squad, only for that plan to be abandoned following widespread condemnation from supporters and charities working to end domestic abuse against women.
After United reversed their plan to welcome Greenwood back into the squad, the player was made available for transfer, eventually joining Getafe in Spain on a season-long loan last summer.
How is this different to what happened last summer? And is it legal to keep him away?
Last summer, United’s internal review delayed any need for Greenwood to return to Carrington for pre-season training. But with that process complete and Greenwood now very much back to playing football, the situation is vastly different.
“Manchester United will have a power of suspension pending investigation, but of course the criminal charges were dropped against Greenwood and that power of suspension will end with those charges being dropped and any internal investigation concluding,” explains Samuel Cuthbert, a sports law barrister at 4 New Square Chambers.
“Any residual power of suspension is likely to be found in his contract with the club where, I would imagine, the club will retain a discretion to take decisions about permitting players to train.”
Ratcliffe said Utd would come to a “fair decision” (Photo: Manchester United/Manchester United via Getty Images)
In February, after his £1.3billion minority investment into United went through, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the club’s new co-owner whose INEOS company has control of the football operations, was asked about Greenwood’s long-term future.
“It’s quite clear we have to make a decision,” Ratcliffe said. “The process will be to understand the facts, not the hype, and then try to come to a fair decision based on values — is he a good guy or not and answer whether could he play sincerely for Manchester United well and would we be comfortable with it and would the fans be comfortable with it?”
United’s position now is that they would prefer a permanent exit, though that is dependent on Greenwood agreeing on his next destination.
Where is Greenwood training?
Greenwood was pictured over the weekend training on a football pitch in Manchester with Shola Shoretire, a fellow United academy graduate.
Shoretire’s contract expired on June 30, meaning he is a free agent, although United announced in June that they were in discussions with the 20-year-old forward ‘remain open’ over a ‘potential new contract’.
A new deal is yet to be announced and he is without a club at this stage of the summer.
As he is not using United’s Carrington base to train, Greenwood will need to keep himself fit, especially as a move away from Old Trafford potentially edges closer.
How long can the situation stay like this?
While United and Greenwood held discussions on Monday, it is not clear for how long any agreement about him staying away from Carrington can be sustained. The players’ unions often oppose any player having to train away from the first-team squad.
FIFPRO, for example, the global players’ union made up of more than 65,000 players, and the Professional Footballers’ Association, the UK’s players’ union, has previously advised its impacted members when they have been told to train alone.
When talking to The Athletic about players — not Greenwood — being frozen out ahead of potentially being sold, James King, general counsel of the PFA, said: “We see this tactic used now because there is this opportunity to move players on before the deadline.
“A player still has an employment contract and that is for a fixed term. The player is an employee and they have rights and protections like anyone else. This isn’t keeping a player’s skills up to the level they should be. These are professional footballers and the employer is obliged to train them at the highest possible level.”
Although forcing players to train alone is not banned by FIFA, football’s world governing body, FIFPRO does not accept players having to train alone unless there is injury or illness.
If Greenwood rejects Marseille and is left without a club, then there will have to be a discussion with United about his training situation.
Has this happened to anyone else?
There are multiple cases of players not training with the main squad, although nearly all of them are unique.
The Athletic detailed what it is like to be part of ‘the Bomb Squad’ — a term given to those ordered to stay away from the first-team group.
During the summer transfer window, this normally happens to players who are deemed surplus to requirements or to those who have fallen out with the manager and are on the cusp of being sold.
Greenwood’s case is somewhat different, though, given the initial backlash United received when The Athletic revealed they were going to bring him back into the fold last summer, in addition to the circumstances of his initial suspension.
What happens if they can’t sell him before the end of the transfer window?
Although a sale now looks increasingly likely, it isn’t guaranteed. In the above scenario, the most probable outcome is Greenwood heads out on loan again.
Getafe remain interested in bringing him back to Spain after being impressed by his output last season, with the forward ending the campaign being named their player of the season, having scored 10 goals in 36 appearances.
The La Liga side are unable to pay what it would cost to sign him permanently and will fancy themselves at the front of the queue if there is another temporary deal to be done.
That said, Greenwood is thought to want to play European football next season, something Getafe are unable to offer, so that could sway his thinking if he is left with several other loan options to choose from.
(Top photo: Isabel Infantes/PA Images via Getty Images)
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