Marseille’s manager has finally addressed recent reports around former Manchester United player Mason Greenwood
Mason Greenwood has been defended by his Marseille manager Roberto De Zerbi, who criticised recent reporting around the former Manchester United player who is having ‘a tough time’.
The 23-year-old left Man United under well-publicised circumstances last summer for Provence, south-eastern France, where he was quickly able to establish himself as a key starter for Marseille. So far this season Greenwood has managed 16 goals and three assists.
But before the international break, for the first time all season he found himself benched by De Zerbi, only making ineffective substitute cameos against RC Lens and Paris Saint-Germain.
What followed were different reports of rifts between player and manager and questions asked of an erratic attitude towards training.
“We need to clarify the Mason Greenwood case a little, because you journalists are always in a position to change things a little, to create some scoops, because you have to do what all journalists do a little bit which is to make a little bit of chaos,” De Zerbi announced at his press conference returning after the break on Friday.
The former Brighton boss continued: “Greenwood is a very good person whom I love, as I love his father.
“He’s had a bit of a tough time lately because he had a daughter who was born, and I don’t think he’s used to playing such an intense season and being a main player. I think he paid for it physically.
“That is to say that he didn’t push himself and wasn’t 100 percent as I wanted in training, in terms of what I expect from a player like him.“His physical condition has declined a little, but my project in Marseille is not only to qualify for the Champions League, it is also to create something like what Luis Enrique has created (at PSG). He has created a team, a group of strong players, but with a soul.”
So, whilst admittedly Greenwood has not trained to the standards his latest coach requires, it would turn out not to be based on negativity but rather struggles to match the demands of Ligue 1 – something Marseille are eager to help with.
After all, his final days as a regular starter with Man United came midway through the 2021/22 campaign. Suspended by the club, he then spent little time playing over the next 18 months before finally securing a loan to Getafe last term.
In Spain he accumulated 36 appearances for the mid-table side – eight more than he has already managed in France this season for a team, as De Zerbi said, intent on qualifying for Europe’s elite competition through the top three in their domestic league.
“Stay here for many years? Of course. It’s something I’d like to do, I want to win trophies here and play in the Champions League. It’s a big ambition to be here, so yes,” Greenwood had said of his career in France during a rare interview earlier this year.
In the same talk he had also discussed his relationship with former Man United teammate Paul Pogba, who is looking to resurrect his own career by finding a new club now his doping ban has come to an end.
With the idea of a reunion in France floated, unfortunately for the pair Marseille’s president Pablo Longoria has said it is not an option they are willing to explore after internal discussions.
2025-03-28 21:00:00
