A brand new season will soon be upon us, as Manchester United kick things off against Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday. There are a ton of questions surrounding the club this summer, and forward Mason Greenwood remains near the top of that list. While the 20-year-old English international remains indefinitely suspended by the club, he still has an active player profile on the club’s official page.
Given the serious legal situation Greenwood currently finds himself in, no one can say when, or even if, he’ll return to action this season. While the evidence is seemingly damning, the judicial process must run its course. His name has consistently been a top trending term on Twitter, sporadically, during his absence despite a lack of new information.
Just seen Mason Greenwood’s name was trending so had a look why.
His name is trending not because of a new bail date or court date…
Trending because some of our weird fans are Tweeting saying they miss him.
— Paul, Manc Bald and Bred (@MufcWonItAll) July 27, 2022
The tweet above is spot on. That’s exactly why Greenwood often trends on social media lately. There remains a consistent, high demand for updates on his status, but the supply of important, relevant information is just very low right now. He received an extension on his bail, on June 24, and that is the most recent publicly available update on his current status.
He stands accused of several very serious crimes, but he is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. In the court of public opinion, he may as well be found guilty already.
United will not make/sell shirts with his name on them this season, and that is a smart move on their part. Give them credit for this.
On his ManUtd.com page all you can see is this: “biography: An exciting striker who has been well ahead of schedule in terms of his progress through the ranks at United and has made a huge impact in 2019/20.”
While an accurate write-up at the time, all of what is said there seems small compared to what is going on with Mason Greenwood right now.
There is a “click more” option on the page, which then takes us to his full biography (only on-the-pitch material, it avoids anything off-the-pitch) and the last line reads as follows:
“Greenwood signed a new deal in February 2021, keeping him at the club until at least 2025 and reached the milestone of 100 appearances for the Reds when appearing against Roma in the Europa League semi-final second leg.”
And that is it right there- Mason Greenwood remains under contract with the club for three more years. That is why he is still technically a part of the club, despite his not having been involved in any of the team’s preseason or off-season activities. And there is of course no timeline for his return. You can safely say that he is “out” against Brighton this weekend.
But Old Trafford is contractually obligated to the player right now. They won’t be outright releasing him any time soon. And while some have speculated that he actually still has a lot of value in the transfer market, no one is going to be taking him off United’s hands between now and summer transfer window deadline day.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and he co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast, part of Edge of the Crowd Network. Follow him and the website on Twitter and Instagram.