When attempting to bring in the Manchester United man over the summer, everything fell neatly into place.
Before a £26 million deal was eventually struck back in July, one of the sleeping giants of European football had emerged as the favourites to secure Mason Greenwood’s signature.
Rumoured interest from Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Borussia Dortmund never really materialised. Lazio were keen too but turned their attention elsewhere after making a £22 million bid only to discover that Greenwood was keen to take ‘another path’.
Fortunately for Marseille, there were no such reservations from the Manchester United academy graduate when it came to putting pen to paper with the 1993 European Champions.
Greenwood opted to entrust his stuttering career with Roberto de Zerbi rather than the Serie A giants, the former Brighton and Hove Albion boss on the charm offensive when he labelled the England international a ‘world-class’ player when the discussions were reaching the final stages.
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Manchester United sold Mason Greenwood to Marseille
Greenwood has made a good first impression too in his new home. Two goals in consecutive starts in pre-season.
The departure of last season’s top scorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang means there are big boots to fill in the L’OM frontline, but De Zerbi appears confident that Greenwood can answer the call.
Speaking to L’Equipe, the Italian admits that Greenwood was ‘the first player’ he contacted after being unveiled as Marseille’s latest head coach earlier in the off-season.
“(I wanted Greenwood because of) what’s in his blood,” says De Zerbi, who was contacted about the United job before Ineos opted to stick with Erik ten Hag. “Character. Willpower.
“Mason Greenwood was the first player I called.”
“I spoke with his father, who must be the same age as me. I warned him about the demands of the club, telling him; ‘OM is OM’. He replied; ‘I remember the historic Marseille, which played in the European Cup finals’.
“On the other hand, when we saw a player was uncertain, not totally won over by the idea of joining us, we immediately went down another path.”
According to Fabrizio Romano, Man United included a 50 per cent sell-on clause in Greenwood’s contract.
As such, should the Bradford-born 22-year-old leave Marseille for £80 million later down the line, for instance, United will be due a further windfall of £40 million.
That, however, remains purely hypothetical for now. The immediate focus for Greenwood is to prove he can be relied upon to lead the line for one of the most expectant yet underachieving sides in European football.
Joshua Zirkzee is Red Devils’ new number eleven
“We wanted Greenwood last year,” Lazio sporting director Angelo Fabiani told the club’s official website when explaining why the former Getafe loanee opted for France over Italy.
“Then, there was a hitch with the player.
“An agent this year approached us with the idea of Greenwood in Italy. We gave him a deadline. From there, an auction was unleashed and I thought I could go up to a certain limit.
“We offered £22 million. We’re talking about 26 million euros. He preferred to take another path.”
Man United have since handed Greenwood’s old number 11 shirt to Joshua Zirkzee; the £35 million arrival from Bologna.
Zirkzee was left on the bench for last week’s Community Shield with Erik ten Hag keen to build up his fitness. A debut may be on the cards in Friday’s Premier League curtain-raiser with Fulham, alongside Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui.
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