"I believe he cannot have a place in this team" - Marseille mayor doesn't want club to sign Manchester United's Mason Greenwood
Marseille mayor Benoît Payan has urged the Ligue 1 club to abandon their move for Manchester United attacker Mason Greenwood. He doesn't want his club to be associated with someone accused of domestic violence.
Payan has said that he has seen the images posted by Greenwood's partner on social media, and they were disturbing. He doesn't want Marseille to be associated with the Englishman and was quoted by Sport Witness as saying:
"Greenwood's behaviour is unspeakable, unacceptable. Hitting his wife... I saw images that deeply shocked me. Attacking his wife in this way is unworthy of a man, and I believe he cannot have a place in this team."
He added:
"The values of Marseille and the values of Olympique de Marseille are anything but that. It's anything but racism, anti-Semitism. It's anything but... can you imagine, violence against women? Do you realise that? And he wants to play for Olympique de Marseille, Greenwood?
"It's a disgrace. I will ask the president of Olympique de Marseille not to recruit Greenwood. I don't want my club to be covered in the shame of someone who hits his wife. I don't want my club to be covered in the ashes of someone who hits his wife like that. It's not acceptable."
The quotes come just after David Ornstein of The Atheltic had reported that a deal was struck between Marseille and Manchester United. The two sides had agreed a €31.6 million fee, with the Red Devils getting a huge sell-on clause added to his contract.
Marseille manager hails Manchester United star Mason Greenwood
Marseille new boss Roberto de Zerbi was full of praise for Mason Greenwood. In a press conference on Tuesday, he said that he's not going to prejudge the Englishman:
"Mason is a world class player but we have not recruited him yet. I don't know what happened, but I am not used to get involved in my players' private life.
"But if he comes here, you have to know that I treat all my players like my sons. I can tell them off in private, but I would never attack them in public."
Apart from Marseille, several other sides, including Benfica, Borussia Dortmund and Juventus, were linked with Mason Greenwood.