LAZIO have stolen a march on Juventus in the race for Mason Greenwood, The Sun can reveal.
The Serie A giants are battling to persuade the Manchester United striker to sign for them.
Lazio tried and failed to sign Greenwood on loan last season after United bosses ruled he needed to leave Old Trafford after he was charged with attempted rape, assault and controlling coercive behaviour.
When he was made available for loan last September, Lazio president Claudio Lotito tried and failed to sign the forward.
He blamed United for failing to complete the paperwork in time before the Italian transfer window closed, leaving Spanish club Getafe able to swoop in.
He went on to win player of the season for the La Liga minnows after returning ten goals and six assists in 36 appearances.
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Greenwood, 22, was retained on United’s list of players and his contract at Old Trafford runs until 2025, with the club having the option to extend it by another 12 months.
But The Sun understands the club has told the £75,000-a-week player’s representatives he is free to leave United if they receive a suitable offer.
United want £40m for the academy graduate but both Lazio and Juventus believe they could strike a deal for around £34m with add-ons.
Juventus are understood to be offering Greenwood a £100,000-a-week three-year contract.
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Lazio finished seventh last season qualifying for the Europa League, while Juventus are in the Champions League after coming third.
Greenwood joined the Madrid-based club last September in a bid to rebuild his career after he had charges of attempted rape, controlling and coercive behaviour and assault dropped six months earlier.
New United shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe recently opened the door for a shock return for the England international but the club have seemingly performed another U-turn on his future.
He said: “We will make a decision, correct. All I can do is talk about the principle of how we will approach decisions like that.
“Is he the right type of footballer, are we happy with if he’s a good person or not?
“He’s a Manchester United footballer, so we are in charge of football.
“So the answer is ‘Yeah, we have to make decisions.
“It’s quite clear we have to make a decision. There is no decision that’s been made.
“He’s on loan, obviously, but he’s not the only one.
“We’ve got one or two footballers that we have to deal with and we have to make a decision on so we will do that.
“The process will be: Understand the facts, not the hype.
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“Then try and come to a fair decision on the basis of values, which is basically is he a good guy or not?
“Could he play sincerely for Manchester United well, would we be comfortable with it and would the fans be comfortable with it?”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
