Manchester United are refusing to rule out the possibility of Mason Greenwood returning to play for the club in the future with a club insider revealing how Erik ten Hag still rates the star as their “best player”.
The 22-year-old last played for Manchester United back in January 2022 in a 1-0 win over West Ham at Old Trafford, with his arrest for a number of serious allegations coming a matter of days later. Those charges were since dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service in February of this and following the withdrawal of a key witness. That left Greenwood, on paper at least, free to resume his professional career.
However, with Ten Hag reportedly putting his weight behind Greenwood’s phased return at United, news of the plan was leaked to the media and a major outcry resulted.
As a result of that, it was ultimately decided that Greenwood would best to resume his career his elsewhere. And with two years left on his deal at Old Trafford, the one-time capped England forward was allowed to join Getafe on a season-long loan deal.
Since his move to Madrid, Greenwood has been finding his feet back in the game and found in Getafe a club who are very much supportive of his footballing rehabilitation. Indeed, Greenwood scored his first goal for the LaLiga side over the weekend, his subsequent Instagram post attracting over one million likes.
As his parent club, United can certainly be pleased with Greenwood’s progress so far in Spain, where he has appeared five times already since the move became official.
Man Utd open to Mason Greenwood return, insider claims
United do have a recall clause in Greenwood’s deal, allowing them to bring the player back to Old Trafford in January if they feel the move is not transpiring to their liking.
However, that appears increasingly unlikely, with club reportedly more than happy with how the stint is going so far.
Further down the line, however, there remains question marks on where Greenwood’s long-term future in the game will be.
That said, and with this report outlining the costs United are putting into Greenwood’s loan, it is clear Ten Hag and Co have not turned their back on the player entirely.
Now The Guardian’s Manchester United correspondent Jamie Jackson has given his take on the player’s future. And he’s incredibly revealed that it is not entirely impossible for the player to find himself back in the first-team fold at United next season.
He told Stetford Paddock: “I do think there is a way [he comes back to United]. The language used at the time both on and off the record – ‘he’s not expected to play for United again’.
“I’m not saying it will happen, and I think all hell would break loose if it did.
“I do know that they think he’s the best player there. Better than Bruno [Fernandes]. That’s what’s been so difficult on the football side.
“They not only said they are convinced he’s innocent, but also that they want to help restart his career.”
‘Ten Hag wanted Greenwood back’
While Jackson has chosen his words carefully, stating a return is far from a done deal, he does acknowledge that United have not closed the door entirely on that possibility.
“I do see a scenario [where he returns]. I don’t necessarily think it will happen but football is crazy,” he added.
“These sort of elite talents are difficult [to come by], he’s homegrown, but they did make a bodge of the process – it took too long.
“If he was 100% never going to play for them again I think they would have made that clear.
“Maybe [chief executive, Richard] Arnold’s being advised – and I don’t know who’s advising him because that statement isn’t great – to not completely write this off.
“When the charges were dropped and they were doing the internal review, I was told that the football side – [director of football] John Murtough and Erik ten Hag – wanted him back.
“If you look back at the summer maybe Ten Hag thought [Rasmus] Hojlund is great because we’re going to have Greenwood as his No.1.”
Greenwood has, to date, played 129 times for United since his debut for the club in March 2019, scoring 35 times.