MANCHESTER UNITED will soon have to face up to their Mason Greenwood dilemma.
The controversial striker’s loan move to Getafe will come to an end in a few weeks’ time.
And then the new Old Trafford regime will have a decision to make.
Does United new part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe cash in on Greenwood, try to bring him back into the fold or find a way to kick the can down the road again?
Amid the fallout from the serious criminal charges laid and then dropped against the England star, the Red Devils found a short-term fix by sending him to La Liga for the current season.
Although Greenwood’s current United contract runs out in just over a year, the club hold an option to extend it by another 12 months.
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In theory, then, United could try to agree another loan deal for the forward, trigger the clause and postpone a final decision until 2025.
But it would be in the interest of all parties to find a permanent solution this summer.
That way, United’s new co-owners INEOS could make a clean break from the bad publicity the saga has brought to the club and use the money to fund much-needed new recruits.
The player would have a fresh start and his new employers would have a forward who has shown signs of rediscovering the form that made him one of English football’s hottest prospects.
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If only it were that simple.
If Greenwood had set La Liga alight, United could feel confident of generating an auction.
The 22-year-old has undeniably done well, scoring ten goals and six assists in 32 appearances in all competitions for Getafe.
Greenwood has scored or created 35 per cent of the club’s goals in LaLiga, helping them to what will be a comfortable mid-table finish.
But has that been enough to create a queue of clubs willing to pay top dollar for Greenwood?
Atletico Madrid are reported to remain keen on him, but Barcelona’s interest is said to have cooled.
Juventus and Lazio are supposedly still in the picture, too.
A couple of Premier League clubs have allegedly made enquiries about Greenwood, yet the reputational impact of signing him would be an issue.
Yet would any of them be willing to pay the £40m to £45m United are said to want?
The problem for Old Trafford chiefs is that Greenwood’s reputation has been tainted and they are what is known in business as “a distressed seller”.
Football is very quick to forget about morality and image when there’s a deal to be done.
It’s a fact that the bad PR for a club signing Greenwood will fade with time, and with distance if he makes a permanent move abroad.
But rival clubs know United are not only keen to sell for PR reasons, but also need to do so if they are going to do significant business this summer.
The club has spent £555m in the last three summer transfer windows.
To avoid sailing close to the wind with financial fair play rules, they will have to be cute this time around.
Anything United received for Greenwood would count as pure profit for accounting purposes, because he is a product of their academy.
Chelsea are in a similar situation with Conor Gallagher.
But Gallagher, whose market price is around £50m, does not come with the same baggage as Greenwood.
Clubs interested in the forward also know that INEOS will be keen to avoid the issue which caused previous Old Trafford chiefs such problems dragging any further into the new era.
So co-owner Ratcliffe and his team may have to accept a lower price for Greenwood.
Or even consider reintegrating him.
In pure football terms, you could make a case for giving him another chance.
Marcus Rashford and Antony have flopped this season, big signing Rasmus Hojlund has struggled at times, and only Alejandro Garnacho of United’s forward players has delivered on a consistent basis.
That is one argument.
On the other hand, would United be better trying to persuade another outcast, Jadon Sancho, that his future lies at Old Trafford, instead of Greenwood?
Sancho has reached the Champions League final while on loan at Borussia Dortmund.
And the row with Erik ten Hag that caused him to leave United temporarily was far less serious than the issues surrounding Greenwood.
Former United chief executive Richard Arnold and other Old Trafford bosses were moving towards letting Greenwood resume first-team duties, after initially suspending him in January 2022 when disturbing allegations were made against him.
The Crown Prosecution Service announced it was dropping charges in February 2023.
U-turn
But when news broke in August 2023 that United were considering a recall for Greenwood, the backlash from domestic abuse charities, United’s women’s team, staff and fans forced them into a U-turn.
Ratcliffe gave an ambiguous response when asked about the Greenwood issue following the completion of his purchase of 27.7 per cent of United and INEOS gaining control of the club’s football operations.
Some interpreted that as him leaving the door ajar for Greenwood to come back, and there was an angry reaction in some quarters.
It is hard to see Ratcliffe and INEOS wanting to go through that again for any length of time.
INEOS director of sport Sir David Brailsford has built his career on bringing marginal gains to sporting teams, but the cost/benefit analysis with Greenwood is a whole new ball game.
Which brings us to the final problem facing United: who is going to make a decision on Greenwood, and when?
New chief executive Omar Berrada is not due to start work until July 13.
United have still not agreed a deal with Newcastle to persuade them to let Dan Ashworth end his gardening leave and become their new sporting director.
On the face of it, the uncertainty over the future of manager Ten Hag only makes the problem worse.
But if Ten Hag is on his way out, it removes the need to consult him on the Greenwood decision.
Any replacement head coach would just have to accept whatever the club decided – and would perhaps be grateful for it to be sorted out before they took control.
Jason Wilcox, the technical director United have successfully poached from Southampton, is currently carrying out a review of the playing squad and staff.
Which naturally includes thinking about the futures of Greenwood and Ten Hag.
Those who know Wilcox say he has a great eye for talent and is good at talking to players, their families and entourages.
But some critics have questioned his negotiating skills, and if United want to get a good deal for Greenwood, they would probably do well to get Ashworth in as soon as possible.
How United’s new bosses deal with the dilemma will be a good test, a signpost of how they want to run the club and what image they want to project.
They could postpone a decision on Greenwood for another year, by sending him out on loan again and preferably with an obligation to buy.
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But the stronger course of action would be to grasp the nettle, quickly and firmly, and to show their business acumen in their first transfer window by selling him for a decent fee.
Yet, as Ratcliffe, Brailsford and co are already discovering, football is a law unto itself – financially and morally.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
