Greenwood, once considered a top prospect at Man United, joins Marseille

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Mason Greenwood left Manchester United to join Marseille on Thursday in a move that brought an end to his troubled spell at the Premier League club where he was once considered one of its most exciting prospects.

Marseille paid 31.6 million euros ($34.5 million) for the 22-year-old forward, a person with knowledge of the details of the deal told The Associated Press. The person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the fee had not been made public, said United had agreed a sizeable share of a sell-on fee.

“We wish Mason all the best in his future career,” United said in a statement.

The move could see Greenwood eventually fulfil his potential as one of the top talents in European soccer after he was compared to United great Wayne Rooney when bursting onto the scene as a 17-year-old.

His promising career was brought to a sudden halt when he was arrested in 2022 and later charged with attempted rape, controlling and coercive behaviour and assault. The case was dropped last year.

But Greenwood — who had been suspended by United — was loaned to Getafe after fans of the 20-time English champion protested his possible return to the club.

There was also resistance to his move to Marseille with the city's mayor voicing his concern.

“I do not want my club to be covered in shame,” Benoit Payan told RMC radio station. “It is not acceptable.”

Greenwood, who also represented England, joined United at the age of 7 and was highly-regarded as he graduated through its famed academy, which produced stars like Ryan Giggs and David Beckham.

He made his first team debut in a Champions League match against Paris Saint-Germain in 2019 and became a regular the following season — scoring 18 goals.

Equally as comfortable shooting with either foot, he was considered a generational talent and given a lucrative four-year contract in 2021.

“He’s a special talent, a special kid that we are going to look after and try to develop into a top, top player,” former United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said in 2020.

His last game for United was against West Ham in January 2022. He was arrested that month after a woman posted visual and audio allegations on social media of an incident.

He was suspended by his club and not permitted to train with the team.

A year later the Crown Prosecution Service said he would no longer face charges and the case had been discontinued.

“In this case, a combination of the withdrawal of key witnesses and new material that came to light meant there was no longer a realistic prospect of conviction. In these circumstances, we are under a duty to stop the case,” the CPS said.

United then conducted its own internal process and there was growing anticipation he would be given the chance to resume his career at Old Trafford.

But as one of the most famous soccer clubs in the world, and commercial deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars, the decision about how to handle Greenwood was always likely to be about more than just soccer.

That was underlined by the angry reaction from some fans after there were rumours he would be allowed to play again.

More than six months after the case was dropped, United confirmed he would be allowed to leave.

"All those involved, including Mason, recognize the difficulties with him recommencing his career at Manchester United,” it said.

Greenwood was loaned to Getafe in the Spanish league and scored 10 goals in 36 appearances.

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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer