Mason Greenwood will not be short of offers as he plots his next move away from Manchester United, football insiders have told i.
Charges of attempted rape, controlling behaviour and assault against Greenwood were dropped in February but a club statement on Monday said it was agreed by both parties that it would be best for him to restart his career “away from Old Trafford”.
Steven Gerrard, who manages Al-Ettifaq in the Saudi Pro League, called reports linking the 21-year-old to his club “fake news” as clubs and brands try to distance themselves from the player, but i understands Italy and Turkey are considered viable options for a move.
One industry source with knowledge of United’s inner workings told i: “One thing I always find is no matter what ethical or moral position people take, there will almost always be a football club that will take a top player, because they’ll always look at the upside and will point to the fact the charges were dropped and the player wasn’t convicted of anything in the end.
“I’d suggest the club may look to protect themselves now, move him on and make sure you’ve got a good percentage of the sell-on [fee] so if he he kicks on and comes back in a big way, then you get some of those rewards as he’s been a huge investment for them.”
i understands that an initial deal is likely to be a loan in order to minimise the risk for Greenwood’s new club, who will be receiving a player without a single minute of competitive football under his belt since January 2022.
But United could then look to sell the England international at a cut-price in an attempt to draw a line under the saga, which has damaged their credibility, and there is a growing consensus within football that the club have badly mishandled this summer’s investigation.
The source added: “I think they’ve ended up missing a real opportunity.
“They could have used this to take a positive position on the issue and say ‘We as a club do not accept this kind of behaviour and there isn’t a place at the club for the player moving forward’. In the end it’s been the opposite effect as it’s pretty clear now that they’ve done an about-turn because they’ve seen the public reaction and negativity in the media, so they’ve lost credibility on all sides.
“An alternative view, depending on what came out of the internal investigations, is that the club could take an element of responsibility, having had the player throughout their academy setup, and say: ‘We have done our own investigation and don’t condone any behaviour of this nature but want to play a part in rehabilitating the player to ensure it doesn’t happen again and set the right example moving forward.
“‘No, we’re not going to bring him into the first team for now and we don’t know what the future will be like for him at the club, but we take it very seriously and will work with the player and give him the best chance to learn from it and improve as a person.’”
Having received no criminal conviction but found guilty in the court of public opinion, Greenwood now has to try and rebuild a career that had been extremely promising.
But the prospect of trying to serve his penance in the wilderness and “disappear” for a few years in a far-off land was dismissed by another experienced agency source.
“I don’t think disappearing will help because everyone has a phone,” they told i.
“Disappearing doesn’t really work anymore. Maybe worked in the old days.
“You want to take it on yourself front up. I always think fronting up and apologising or taking it on to show you’re getting help and show you’re getting advice and counsel from the very, very best, around whatever mental health issues there are.
“There’s an awful lot of hard yards.”
At one stage, it did appear United would be willing to walk those yards with Greenwood after leaked emails suggested he was set to stay at the club, which drew significant backlash.
The source added: “If they read the room well they wouldn’t even have put out that they’re going to have this investigation or process.
“They were probably thinking that they might reinstate him. They put this thing out and there was a whole delayed reaction.
“Obviously, public pressure comes through, stakeholder pressures come through, and they’ve gone ‘oh, actually we can’t.'”
Whichever club signs him next can expect to go through the very same process: with the public, with sponsors and with fans.
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