"He's a free person" - Getafe boss explains decision to sign Mason Greenwood on loan from Manchester United
Getafe manager Jose Bordalas has explained his decision to sign the controversial Manchester United attacker Mason Greenwood on loan.
Greenwood, 21, was one of the best players to have come up the ranks at United. He had a promising start with the first team, but it was cut short when he was arrested for attempted rape and coercive behavior in January 2022.
Although the charges were dropped a year later, the player was let go by the club. Suffice to say that Greenwood hasn't played for United since then and seemingly didn't have a future in English club football.
Getafe pounced on the opportunity to snap up the talented attacker on transfer deadline day on Friday (September 1). Their manager has now explained the rationale behind signing Greenwood (as per GOAL), saying that he's a 'free man' now and deserves to start afresh:
"It is a very delicate situation to trivialise this issue. Every knows what happened and the appropriate measures were taken, obviously, we can only talk about football."
"Regarding the other issues, I believe that the people and the relevant authorities did what they had to do and everyone knows how it ended with a non-conviction sentence. Therefore, he is a free person, a footballer of a very high level and who arrives at Getafe with enormous enthusiasm and that we are obviously going to help him so that he recovers back to his best level."
What else did Getafe boss say about former Manchester United attacker Mason Greenwood?
Mason Greenwood had a rollicking start to his Manchester United career, bagging 35 goals and 12 assists in 129 games across competitions. Most of these goal contributions came while he was still a teenager, suggesting a great future ahead.
While he still could have a bright future, it will have to be away from the club where he first made his name. Getafe boss Bordalas recognizes the potential in Greenwood, as he said in the aforementioned interview that the player could have a future at the club:
"‘I have already commented what I had to comment. I can only speak on a football level. We all know the potential he has. He is a very young boy. He is still 21 years old, and we can help him adapt to a situation.
"It’s a different league but because of the potential he has, I’m sure that if he physically reaches a good level, I’m convinced of him because of how young he is and because we’ve been informed that he obviously wants to recover his professional status, and Getafe can help him in that."
Getafe snapped up the player on deadline day after his move to Italian side Lazio broke down. It remains to be seen when Mason Greenwood makes his first-team debut for them after his Manchester United career was cut short.