Mason Greenwood denied England return as striker left out of Marseille vs Sunderland

Mason Greenwood has reportedly been left out of Marseille’s squad for their pre-season friendly against Sunderland later today.

The ex-Manchester United man secured a permanent transfer to the Ligue 1 outfit in July, with Marseille splashing £26.6million on his signature.

It came after a season-long loan at Getafe last season, where Greenwood notched up 36 appearances across all competitions.

Getafe also managed to bag themselves a chunk of the transfer fee Marseille paid United, as a result of a clause inserted into the loan contract last summer.

However, the ex-United Academy product was set for a return to England this weekend, with his new club Marseille due to play Championship outfit Sunderland in a pre-season friendly.

That doesn’t appear to be the case though, with French outlets reporting Greenwood won’t be involved in the pre-season fixture.

As per La Provence, Greenwood has been denied an England return, with the official line from the Marseille dressing room that the attacker has suffered a ‘muscle lesion’.

Had he been available, it would’ve marked the first match Greenwood played on British soil since turning up for United during the 2021/22 campaign.

Greenwood was arrested in January 2022, before being charged with attempted rape, controlling and coercive behaviour, and assault occasioning actual bodily harm, all of which he denied.

The Crown Prosecution Service dropped all the charges in February 2023, citing “a combination of the withdrawal of key witnesses and new material meant there was no longer a realistic prospect of conviction.”

Greenwood later joined Getafe on loan on deadline day of the summer 2023 winner, before leaving United on a permanent transfer a year later.

Despite his Old Trafford exit, United do boast a buy-back clause that could see Greenwood return to the 20-time Premier League champions later down the line.

It’s reported by The Telegraph that United will have the opportunity to re-sign Greenwood, although the chances of that happening remain slim.

The report claims inserting a buy-back clause in a departing academy product’s contract is standard practice for the North West-based outfit.

United could profit from Greenwood’s future transfer moves though, with claims the Red Devils have a sell-on clause worth up to 50 per cent.

The three-time European champions had wanted around £40million for Greenwood’s transfer, with Marseille only able to stump up around half of that.

In order to offset their initial valuation, a sell-on clause was inserted into the deal with the French club.