Real Madrid and Barcelona among 4 European giants keeping close eye on Mason Greenwood after impressive form with Marseille: Reports
Real Madrid and Barcelona are considering bringing Mason Greenwood back to Spain after his impressive start to life as an Olympique Marseille player, as per HITC (via SportBible). The English forward joined the French outfit in the summer, and his early season form has put him on the radar of Europe's most prestigious sides.
Greenwood was frozen out of the first team from his boyhood club Manchester United after being arrested for sexual and domestic assault in 2022. The charges were dropped eventually, and the forward was shipped off to Getafe on loan last summer.
His performances caught the attention of Olympique Marseille, who spent £26.6 million to sign him from Manchester United. Greenwood has since found the net five times in four Ligue 1 games, and is now attracting interest from clubs around Europe.
Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain have all been impressed by the 22-year-old's performances, and are monitoring him as per the aforementioned report. Interestingly, Manchester United reportedly have a 50% sell-on clause in the forward's contract.
Real Madrid and Barcelona would be familiar with Greenwood, having seen him score eight goals in La Liga last season.
Real Madrid boss offers insight into Barcelona star's complaint over fixture congestion
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has shared his thoughts about fixture congestion after Barcelona star Jules Kounde spoke about a potential strike. There have been complaints from several players around Europe over the sharp rise in the number of games they play in a year.
Ancelotti addressed this in a pre-match press conference, saying he felt the important thing was to find a way to protect the players. He also suggested that the players would not be averse to taking pay cuts to make this happen. He said (via ESPN):
"Football needs to reflect because the aim is to try to play less games to have less injuries. If that leads to lowering salaries, the aim is for players to play less games so I don't think the players will have any problem to lower their wages if they play less."
Manchester City stars Kevin De Bruyne and Manuel Akanji have also complained about the number of games, adding to multiple comments on the topic. With the new UEFA Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup formats, players are looking at potentially the longest-ever season of their careers.