Mason Greenwood has scored five goals in three Ligue 1 games for Marseille, but a recall to the England side is highly unlikely under interim manager Lee Carsley
Marseille are “very happy” to have signed Mason Greenwood from Manchester United and are not concerned about his future in international football.
Greenwood left United to join the French club in a £26.6million deal in the summer transfer window after spending last season on loan with Getafe. He’s hit the ground running for his new club, contributing five goals and one assists in his first three Ligue 1 matches.
Despite his form, Greenwood is highly unlikely to ever add to his one cap at senior level for England. Asked about the 22-year-old striker, interim Three Lions manager Lee Carsley said: “Mason wasn’t a player we could consider, I’m aware of how he’s doing, but he wasn’t under consideration.”
Greenwood was arrested in October 2022 and was subsequently charged with attempted rape, engaging in controlling and coercive behaviour, and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. Those charges were dropped in February 2023 by the Crown Prosecution Service but United decided he had no future at the club.
Asked about Carsley’s stance at the Thinking Football Summit, Marseille president Pablo Longoria said: “I don’t want to answer that kind of question out of respect to everybody. I prefer to talk about what Mason is doing in France and Marseille and we are very happy with the kind of performances that he is doing during the first weeks as well.”
Greenwood has been courted by Jamaica and has held talks with their new manager Steve McClaren. He is eligible to play for Jamaica though his father and FIFA rules will allow him to make the switch, despite having played a competitive game for England because he didn’t exceed the limit of three senior matches.
Greenwood may have started well on the pitch in Marseille, but his move to the south of France was not without controversy. Marseille mayor Benoit Payan opposed the transfer saying: “I do not want my club to be covered in shame.”
Longoria has now hit back at Payan. “The comments of the mayor reinforce what we did, [they did] not have all the information,” he said. “We took the decision internally. OK, there was some opposition, that was objective, but at the same time that gave us power to maybe not investigate, because I am not a judge, but to use all the information to take the best decision, which I think we did.”
He added: “In our very first conversation with the coach [Roberto de Zerbi] we mentioned Mason’s name. The coach (Roberto De Zerbi) knew Mason from the past and it was a very quick conversation at the start between all of us because we believe in the talent of Mason. There were a lot of conversations between all of us in the weeks leading up to his move. He is behaving fantastically with us and we are very happy to have him playing in our team.”
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