How Manchester United’s sorry saga with £100m-rated star Mason Greenwood ended

Manchester United has parted ways with Mason Greenwood, a £100m-rated talent, after dropped charges of violence towards a woman. PAUL HIRST details the tension-filled split and what comes next.

Manchester United has parted ways with Mason Greenwood. Picture: Paul Ellis/AFP

On Monday morning, Manchester United sent a notification to the millions of fans who use their official app.

It read: “What is happening this week at United?” Those who clicked the link were told that the app would soon publish a Tom Heaton interview, a feature on Casemiro, and it reminded them that the club’s Under-21 team were playing Stockport County in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday night. There was no mention of the fact that at 3pm on Monday, United would announce that Mason Greenwood would never play for them again.

That was kept secret from all but a small circle of people right at the top of the club, some of whom were involved in the six-month long internal investigation into the player’s conduct.

United said in their statement that it would be “most appropriate” for Greenwood to leave, even though they were satisfied that he was not guilty of the charges levelled at him after the publication of a shocking voice note and a photo of a woman with a bloodied face on January 30, 2022. It was alleged that Greenwood assaulted the woman in question, although he denied all the charges against him.

Greenwood is no longer wanted by his boyhood club, which he joined aged seven, but he is still in demand elsewhere despite the events of the past 20 months. The 21-year-old, one of the most promising young players in Europe a few years ago, is essentially available for free.

United figures will sit down with Greenwood, his father Andrew and others close to him in the coming days to thrash out his next move. It seems that he has three options. He could move away on loan for a year or two; he could be transferred (without a fee); or he and United could agree to terminate his £100,000-a-week contract, which has two years left to run.

It has been made clear to Greenwood that he cannot play for United again. The club banned him from their Carrington training ground when they suspended him after the allegations were made. That ban remains in place.

Mason Greenwood arrives for the first day of his trial. Picture: Cameron Smith/Getty Images

When Greenwood does finally set off for pastures new, United hope that will signify the end of a sorry saga. Will he be missed? By a handful of teammates, yes. But not by most of the first-team squad, who struggled to connect with the forward, partly because of the age gap that existed between him and them.

Greenwood could be aloof at times, particularly with staff. He was described by one staff member as “unworldly”. There were reports of one incident in which he was rude to a chauffeur. Others think he has been hard done by, given that the Crown Prosecution Service dropped charges of assault, attempted rape, and controlling and coercive behaviour last February owing to new evidence and the withdrawal of key witnesses.

Greenwood denied all the charges.

He will not be missed by the vast majority of the women’s team, who, as The Times reported six months ago, were opposed to his return. The men’s and women’s teams share a training base and they were uncomfortable with the idea of Greenwood returning.

Richard Arnold, the club’s chief executive, held a meeting on Monday with senior representatives of the women’s squad, who were informed of his decision. The other players in the squad, including United’s three World Cup finalists, were also told before they flew home from Australia.

The men’s team received the news at home as they were on a day off. They will have a chance to speak to senior staff about the issue when they return to training on Tuesday. The same will apply to the women’s team when they return for pre-season training.

United had delayed the announcement of the decision so that it did not coincide with the women’s World Cup.

Mason Greenwood in action for Manchester United during a Premier League match. His time at his boyhood club is over. Picture: Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images

For some staff members at Carrington and Old Trafford, the past week had been an anxious one. Leaked news that the United hierarchy had spoken between themselves of potential strategies, including the possibility of Greenwood’s return, had alarmed them.

Some executives who had heard the voice note were appalled at the idea of him coming back. Other rank and file members were preparing to complain to their line managers and threaten to quit.

Female Fans Against Greenwood’s Return, a recently formed protest group, told The Times that it had been inundated with messages of support from anonymous United staff members. Staff from the Manchester United Foundation, the charity that helps young people from Manchester, had spoken among themselves about the damaging impact of Greenwood’s potential return.

“No way,” one of them mused, would Greenwood be allowed to appear at public events with schoolchildren at United’s training ground. Another said that they feared parents would not let their children anywhere near Carrington if they knew that Greenwood would be at the same complex. Security staff feared that if Greenwood returned, domestic abuse charities would have been camped out at the training ground.

Arnold decided last Friday that Greenwood could not return and after meetings with the player and his family over the weekend, they agreed it was the best course of action.

Erik ten Hag was informed on Sunday. Not long after he took over as United manager in April 2022, he asked the club what Greenwood’s situation was. He shared his opinion on the matter, but accepted their decision.

Mason Greenwood was a highly-rated talent at Old Trafford but must now look elsewhere to continue his football career after ugly accusations of violence towards a woman. Picture: Naomi Baker/Getty Images

Arnold held a ten-minute meeting with United’s Fans’ Advisory Board on Monday, before making the announcement public. The chief executive, who took over from Ed Woodward in February 2022, based his decision on the findings of an executive panel that United had convened for their investigation. It included several senior members of staff – some of them women. United would not reveal who sat on the panel, but it is understood it contained representatives from the legal, human resources and football departments.

The panel was put in a tricky position in that it was expected to provide evidence to Arnold even though it had no real powers of investigation.

The alleged victim heard on the voice note and seen in the picture did not speak with investigators. Instead, her mother spoke to the panel on her behalf. At the end of the investigation, United said they were satisfied that Greenwood did not physically abuse, rape or engage in coercive behaviour with the alleged victim. The panel heard the entire voice note, which spanned 14 minutes, rather than the one-minute edit, which provided extra context, United said.

The panel found that Greenwood was guilty of using language and behaving in a way that was not befitting of a United player. The fact his return would prove divisive is said to have influenced Arnold’s decision.

United insist that the welfare of the alleged victim, that of Greenwood and the thoughts of staff have been taken into account but one senior staff member was also mindful of the impact of losing “a £100 million asset”.

That asset is now effectively available on a free transfer. Where Greenwood goes from here is anyone’s guess, but his United career is now certainly over.

– The Times

Originally published as How Manchester United’s sorry saga with £100m-rated star Mason Greenwood ended