Summer is coming and with it fresh debate as to whether Mason Greenwood should return to Manchester United to fulfil the remaining time on his contract.
Greenwood has spent the 2023-24 season on loan with Getafe, having a degree of on-field success including 10 goals and six assists.
But his career remains marred by the discontinued Crown Prosecution Service case against him for attempted rape, controlling and coercive behaviour and assault.
These now-dropped charges, which the 22-year-old denies, followed audio of someone alleged to be Greenwood aggressively attempting to coerce a woman into sex, accompanied by pictures of her bleeding face and bruised body.
As i reported recently, Manchester United have not ruled out Greenwood returning to Old Trafford and are demanding a hefty fee to sell him despite only having one year left on his contract.
Here are the three options ahead of the new Ineos-led United backroom this summer.
Sell him to Spain or Italy for a big profit
The most convenient and likely option for United is to sell Greenwood for a healthy profit, removing him from their books and gaining a potential £40m of transfer capital and Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) headroom.
i understands Juventus are the current frontrunners for Greenwood’s signature, with sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli a fan of the forward.
Their case is helped by United’s interest in Juventus centre-back Bremer, meaning a swap deal involving the pair is a potential option to explore.
Atletico Madrid are also heavily linked with Greenwood, while Barcelona’s interest has waned due to financial restrictions but they continue to admire the 22-year-old.
It has also been reported that two unnamed Premier League clubs have enquired about Greenwood’s availability, although a move within England appears highly unlikely.
But for either Juventus or Atletico, the necessary financial outlay is an obvious obstacle for a player who comes with unavoidable baggage.
United will only agree to sell Greenwood for the right price, with £40m the supposed number, preferring to hold on to him rather than dispose of him in a cut-priced deal.
Loan him back to Getafe for another season
While Getafe would almost certainly not be able to afford to purchase Greenwood permanently, club president Angel Torres has been clear that they hope to keep him on loan for another year.
“If it was up to the lad, his parents and the club [Getafe], I think he would continue for another year,” Torres told Radio Marca.
“But regarding Manchester [United], the news that we have from last week where the [Getafe] sporting director went to England to see some games and was with them, is that if a good offer comes along, they would want to sell because he is not going to go back there [to Manchester].
“We’ll have to wait until the end of June. The family and the player are very comfortable and very happy here, with our fans. When he came here, he hadn’t played for 16 months.
“He has recovered his form, he has scored eight league goals and two in the Copa. The people and the coach are very happy with him. I think he will remain with us for another season, or at least until January. He is a good footballer.”
Of course, it is in Torres’s interest to suggest Greenwood will not return to Manchester, but a further loan would make sense for all parties.
The youngster is settled in Madrid, the fans have accepted him – while some opposition supporters have not – and it is clearly a mutually beneficial relationship between club and player.
But a fresh loan would almost definitely be contingent on activating Greenwood’s built-in contract extension at Old Trafford in order to facilitate a future sale around United’s desired price point.
This would also allow United to continue deferring the sale without losing money, helping them put time between the incident and any potential profit to minimise future backlash.
Keep him at Manchester United
Keeping Greenwood at Old Trafford remains the last resort for United, but is far from infeasible.
They would rather keep him than sell at “fire-sale prices”, although even then representing the first team next season would still be a serious stretch.
They could look to secure a loan away from Getafe, likely paying a higher proportion of his wage, or hold him with the squad but away from the pitch until pushing again for a sale in January.
Greenwood returning to United would be the most complex and risky move for the club, inevitably attracting criticism and potentially having a disruptive effect on the playing corps.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/cEowMsZ
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