02 Sep 2023 08:50:19
With the Greenwood to Getafe on loan situation what are the thoughts re, if he does well and appears to have regained his form that he might be reintegrated at United?
Could it or should it happen under any circumstance?
Discuss.
02 Sep 2023 09:21:33
Club have said he will never play for Manchester United again. So unless we are sold and there is a ownership U-turn, it is not going to happen. If he scores 30 goals and all the top clubs want him, we have a new owner and new officials, who knows. Seems unlikely though.
02 Sep 2023 09:29:08
Hope he score 25 goals and we sell him to real for 80 million plus. The tribal nature of football in the UK makes it very difficult for him to come back and play for us.
02 Sep 2023 09:52:58
I think the fact it is a loan and not a permanent deal seems to suggest the club are just continuing to kick the can down the road in hope that they can make a different decision if enough time passes.
They just need to make a decision and take their medicine. No matter what they decided it'll be spun in a negative way and they will face a certain amount of backlash and/ or financial costs.
Man up, make a decision, stand by it and deal with the consequences.
02 Sep 2023 09:11:48
Dear God, please let's nit. We've done this to death.
02 Sep 2023 09:14:51
Let’s not. It’s been done to death!
02 Sep 2023 10:03:56
Shappy your thoughts there mine too.
02 Sep 2023 10:04:42
Sydney I was unaware of that club statement.
02 Sep 2023 10:13:33
Its pretty much what the statement says, everyone has their own interpretation of what it meant but it was carefully written in what it did and didn't say. In short Mason will resume playing not at United and after that well nothing has been said.
02 Sep 2023 10:19:17
I have not once seen any statement saying he will not play for United again from the club.
02 Sep 2023 10:43:49
My interpretation from the statement (which is carefully written agreed) is he will never play for the club again. But it fell short of saying they'll terminate his contract as he is a valuable asset.
They'll wind down his contract and if they can sell, they will sell. But getting a permanent deal now for money would be impossible. Loan and likely sale next summer.
I am in the MG camp who wanted his return. But he will never return.
02 Sep 2023 11:30:58
So, in essence, the club have not actually stated that "he will never play for Manchester United again. "?
02 Sep 2023 11:46:21
Fizz,
No I think that was the journalists who twisted the wording on that.
However, separately, I read it the same way. Sadly.
02 Sep 2023 11:57:46
That isn't what the club have said at all though. Its your opinion but be very clear on the fact the statement doesn't say that and that is not a position that United have ever officially adopted.
Shappy is most likely right in his belief that United are waiting to see how the cards fall before making any future decision and the statement released allow precisely for them to do that.
Arnold and co will have approached their solicitors and media people who will have crafted and approved a statement to have achieved all their aims, which will have been to minimise the harm to reputation of United and allow them the opportunity to explore the outcome they desire, whatever that is and not preclude any potential outcome they may wish to explore in the future.
I have purposely never stuck my hat in any camp nor discussed my preference for a paticular outcome because i don't want to. I have been around the block enough times to know that a carefully crafted statement is written with ambiguity for a reason.
02 Sep 2023 11:59:54
No change for me still no future here.
The loan will be about maximising future sale price for me, he gets to test the waters with fans and future clubs get to watch from a distance.
I don't see how the club can make a reverse decision and suddenly bring him back unless something major happens to change the narrative of the incident.
Let's hope he does well and we can secure a good fee in the future.
02 Sep 2023 12:40:35
The thing is no matter how you spin it he is still contracted to the club. There has been no break, he's headed off on loan with a club statement about how they will continue to "support" him.
This points to the fact that they after all they've said and done they have not yet drawn a line in the sand. He could still come back to the first team, that option hasn't actually been removed from the table.
They could have found a permanent transfer, they could have paid up his contract and released him. There were options there for a permanent severance from the club, but the club have not gone down that route.
Which suggests that like I said they are just kicking the can down the road in the hope of being able to make a decision further down the line. Clearly they want to reintroduce to the team, but they are trying to do so with no backlash. That just won't happen. Maybe they are hoping that next summer the club with have new owners and the decision will be someone else's responsibility. I don't know. But despite club statements to the contrary they have not cut ties with the player, and as such his return at some point is still a possibility.
02 Sep 2023 13:04:51
There is zero interest in MG in a permanent move. Only Lazio and Getafe were interested in a loan and we are paying most of his £75k a week salary.
There's two options as of now, loan him out or terminate his deal. No business would terminate a contract for an asset that they could sell within the 3 years left of his contract.
I am all for him returning, but I think it's more about retaining an asset and maximising it over time. I don't see us ever allowing him to return. The statement is clear that his career is away from United.
02 Sep 2023 13:31:49
Another good post Shappy.
AJH and KEEFY. This hasn't been done to death at all. Previous discussions have been about peoples opinions as whether or not Greenwood SHOULD be allowed to return. This discussion isn't about that but discussing whether, given the loan situation, the club appear to be considering the option.
02 Sep 2023 13:42:49
Syd, I respectfully disagree that there was no interest in signing him permanently. I accept there might not have been any interest in signing him for the fees United would have probably asked for. But that's an entirely different situation.
I am absolutely certain that if Manchester United had told clubs that they could sign Greenwood for 10m that they would have had a queue of clubs lining up to sign him.
However, if United valued him at 50-60m and would want a deal in that region to sell then I completely understand why they might have struggled to find interest. Firstly the pool of clubs that could afford such a fee is fairly limited, while few if any clubs would be prepared to pay such a fee for a player that comes with the significant baggage and backlash they would get for signing him.
Even if they couldn't find a club prepared to sign him permanently, they could still have paid up his contract and wished him well if they truly wanted to severe ties.
But they didn't, and if you can find clubs prepared to take him on loan then those clubs and probably many more would be prepared to take him if the price is right. But again they weren't prepared to do that either.
02 Sep 2023 14:04:08
Shappy, his value is 0.
Initially only an Albanian club was willing to take him on if we paid the entirety of his salary. A few more clubs became interested later on.
Besiktas, Lazio pulled out of any deal and the only option left for him was Getafe who will only pay a tiny amount of his wages.
The club will build up his value as much as they can and sell him on when the dust settles somewhat. I would imagine that's their thinking, but I don't know. That's just the most logical explanation.
My hope is we get taken over and the new people in charge reintroduce him to the team. But that's more hope than anything. 3 years left to boost his value and offload. I think that's the more likely outlook.
But who knows for sure ?♂️.
02 Sep 2023 14:38:47
He has not played football for 18 months so there is no value in a permanent deal for any buyers unless they have 20 mill they are happy to play roulette with and lose it all and united would not sell for less than 20 mill when cole palmer goes for 45 mill:) so it suits all the parties involved.
If you get a greenwood back somewhere to his old self then there will be lots of suitors at serious money next summer. I can't see him playing for us again.
02 Sep 2023 14:55:31
Reports suggested that United were going to try and integrate him back into the team this season, however the backlash put them off, so simply they have loaned him out, will let the media frenzy die down and they will try again in a year.
02 Sep 2023 15:35:38
They struggled to even get him placed somewhere on a loan, zero chance any club would have paid a fee for him, he is toxic at the moment, no club could take that chance, certainly no big club will, Getafe already here in Spain today trying to explain the signing! You could have said 10 million would have made zero difference, maybe after the first year a possibility but currently before he stepped foot on a pitch again, no chance, Jose wanted apparently board said no chance! It could just be too damaging, that’s even before they pacify the Ladies teams!
02 Sep 2023 16:05:05
His value is 0.
Lots of work to do to repair his asset value.
02 Sep 2023 17:52:18
For me this may be one of United’s smartest moves: MG is a poison chalice at the moment for every club. No one wanted to touch him in this transfer window. BUT if he does regain his form at Gatafe and bangs in 30 goals, that may make some of the big guns think twice. In this scenario we sell him for mega £££ which will enable us to buy a great replacement, whilst at the same time seen to be doing the right thing by the club and the kid himself. Could be a very screwed move.
02 Sep 2023 18:45:18
I think if he hadn’t been at the club since age of 8 they would have terminated his contract. But because they feel they have a duty of care they are trying to find him a new club. I doubt it’s about making money on him tbh.
And he will not play for Man Utd again under this ownership, maybe if he’s on the books and there is a new regime in charge there is a chance. But as we currently are, the club has no intention to play him again.
02 Sep 2023 20:10:54
I could care less if he scores 1000 goals for getafe, I pray he never wears our shirt again.
03 Sep 2023 09:23:16
Bringing him back would have taken some of the heat of Maguire for a while.
03 Sep 2023 13:30:24
I sure hope he plays for us again, especially if he recovers his form.
Terrible decision not to reintegrate him.
03 Sep 2023 14:19:37
Looks like he might not even play for Getafe, how on earth can anyone think it’s good for there club to take him at the current time, Spain even more so.