Marseille president has NO regrets over signing Mason Greenwood

Club president Pablo Longoria has said that Roberto de Zerbi asked to sign Mason Greenwood during his first conversation with the board after being appointed as their manager in June. 

Greenwood completed a £30million move to Marseille from Manchester United in July after spending a season on loan at Getafe. However, Greenwood’s move to Marseille was marred with controversy.

Greenwood was arrested in January 2022 for allegations of attempted rape, assault and coercive behaviour. However, charges were dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service following the ‘withdrawal of key witnesses and new material coming to light’.

Nevertheless, the Marseille fans still harboured their own reservations while the mayor of Marseille Benoit Payan publicly opposed the signing of Greenwood during the summer.

But, Longoria remains confident Marseille made the right decision – claiming they all believed in the ‘talent’ of Greenwood after De Zerbi first suggested the idea of signing him. 

Speaking about the decision at the Thinking Football Summit, Longoria said: ‘The comments of the mayor reinforce what we did, [they did] not have all the information.

‘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 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.’

Marseille have been handed an immediate return on their investment in the former United star, with Greenwood scoring five goals in his opening three appearances for the club. As a result, he was named Marseille’s player of the month for August.  

Greenwood has largely kept a low media profile since leaving United, but beamed as he was unveiled as the club’s star player of the month after an impressive start in France.

‘It’s been my first month here and it’s amazing to win this award and first of all I want to thank the fans who voted me, I appreciate that a lot,’ he told Marseille’s official X account.

‘Without my team-mates and the coaching staff and everyone at the club helping me this award wouldn’t be possible. I came here in the middle of pre-season and got a good connection straight away and we showed that in the first game against Brest.

‘We are getting more comfortable as the games go on, are in a good position in the league and want to keep moving forward. It’s amazing I have never really experienced a crowd like that before, I have played in a lot of stadiums in Europe and this has been the loudest one,’ he added.

‘To score my first goal there meant a lot to me. Hopefully there can be many more in the season. I just want to help the team as much as possible, whether that be scoring or assisting or giving my 100 per cent on the pitch and we want to finish as a team as high up the league as possible.

‘I want to say thank you very much and hopefully we have many more good moments in the season,’ said Greenwood. 

That being said, the mayor of Marseille was less than impressed with the club’s decision to sign Greenwood and made his feelings known ahead of the deal earlier this year. 

He told RMC Sport: ‘Greenwood’s behaviour is unspeakable, unacceptable. Hitting his wife… I saw images that deeply shocked me. Abusing his wife in this way is unbecoming of a man and he cannot have his place on this team.

‘The values ​​of OM and Marseille are anything but that in fact. It’s a shame. I will ask Pablo Longoria not to recruit Greenwood. I don’t want my club to be covered with the shame of someone who hits his wife.

‘Olympique de Marseille is more than a club. It is a spirit, and there is no place for those who behave in this way, for those who commit this kind of crime and offence. It is unbearable. I cannot imagine for a second that Pablo Longoria would make this major mistake.’