La Liga president’s blunt Mason Greenwood verdict over Manchester United future

LaLiga’s president said he wants Mason Greenwood to stay in Spain and doesn’t care about past controversies surrounding the on-loan Manchester United forward.

Greenwood joined Getafe on a season-long loan deal last year after United scrapped plans to integrate him back into their squad amid a backlash from fans.

Greenwood was due to stand trial on charges of attempted rape, controlling behaviour and assault in November 2023 but all charges were dropped in February 2023 following the withdrawal of key witnesses and the emergence of new material.

Greenwood doesn’t want to return to United

Sir Jim Ratcliffe said United will make a fresh decision on Greenwood at the end of the season but the player reportedly harbours no great desire to play for the Red Devils again, and LaLiga president Javier Tebas would welcome Greenwood staying in Spain’s top tier.

“I am a lawyer,” Tebas said. “If someone came out of a legal case innocent there is nothing else to say. He is doing really well as a player and I hope he continues to stay in Spanish football. That is good for us.

“You should respect legal process. People might be condemning him in the press but you have to respect the legal decision. There is nothing else to talk about.

“He wasn’t condemned [found guilty] here so I don’t care.”

Speaking last month, United’s new minority owner Ratcliffe said of Greenwood: “It’s a fresh decision. I can talk about the principle. I am not going to talk about Mason. I am familiar with it. The principle is the important one. We will have other issues going forwards.

“You are dealing with young people who have not always been brought up in the best circumstances, who have a lot of money and they don’t always have the guidance they should have.

“What we need to do when we have issues like that is understand real affects, not the hype, then we need to make a fair decision in the light of the club’s values. That’s what we need to do and that’s how we will deal with it.”