United names starting price of upcoming Greenwood transfer
Manchester United has reportedly set a starting price for forward Mason Greenwood should the Englishman transfer. The former England international is currently on loan at Spanish side Getafe after spending the 2022/23 campaign on the sidelines. Despite not playing last season, the forward has performed fairly well for the Azulones. As a result, the LaLiga club is open to keeping Greenwood beyond the current campaign.
Nevertheless, Marca is reporting that United is looking for a significant transfer fee to sanction a sale of the attacker. Red Devils brass is welcoming a bidding war for Greenwood. The Spanish news outlet claims that the English club wants to start negotiations for the player at about $54 million.
This potential fee would essentially price Getafe out of a move. The club’s record transfer in their history was when they purchased Marc Cucurella from Barcelona for around $12 million back in 2020. The Spanish side eventually sold the defender to Brighton for nearly $20 million just a year later.
Several big clubs are reportedly interested in attacker despite previous arrests
With Getafe possibly out of the way, United is hoping that big clubs step up their interest in Greenwood. Mail Sport reported that Barca, Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich were monitoring the loanee. The news outlet even claimed that John Murtough and Matt Hargreaves were recently spotted in Spain having lunch with Barca sporting director Deco.
A move to Barca, however, could very well prove to be difficult. The Spanish club is currently experiencing financial problems and will likely need to focus on offloading players this summer. Their incoming transfer business will almost certainly depend on how much money they create through player sales.
New United minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe previously opened the door for Greenwood to potentially return to the Red Devils. Nevertheless, this was met with strong backlash due to the player’s arrest record. As a result, Ratcliffe essentially backtracked on the issue.
Greenwood starred as United’s best young player just a few years ago. Nevertheless, police arrested the youngster in early 2022 on charges of assault and rape. United Kingdom police eventually dropped all of the charges due to the withdrawal of key witnesses a year later.
Greenwood would prefer to stay in Spain
Any club that signs Greenwood will likely receive staunch criticism due to his previous actions. The forward, however, reportedly has no real desire to return to United due to two specific reasons. Greenwood was not happy that the club essentially turned its back on him following the aforementioned arrest. Secondly, the attacker realizes that he will be under immense pressure if he returns to England.
These opinions by Greenwood could very well affect his upcoming permanent transfer away from United. After all, other clubs know that the forward does not want to return to the Red Devils. As a result, and assuming there is no serious bidding war, these foreign teams can essentially control the negotiations.
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