Manchester United forward Mason Greenwood will leave Old Trafford after a criminal investigation of possible attempted rape was dropped by the CPS six months ago.
Greenwood was arrested in January 2022 and has been suspended by the club this then.
However, there was strong suggestions that Greenwood would make a comeback, but it is believed that chief executive Richard Arnold make a U-turn following backlash from the fans.
United announced on Monday the outcome of their six-month internal investigation into Greenwood’s case. While Greenwood is unlikely to play for the club again, United will help him find a new club since there’s two years left to run on his contract.
MUST statement regarding United’s decision on Mason Greenwood
Manchester United Supporters’ Trust collected feedback from its members on the Greenwood case last week. They were also quick to issue their own statement an hour after the 3pm announcement on Monday.
“Since our inception, MUST has had a general policy of not commenting on player matters. However, given the exceptional circumstances and importance of the issue, we have elected to make the following statement related to the Club’s decision to clarify that Mason Greenwood will never play for Manchester United again.
“Since the deeply distressing initial allegations surfaced, this episode has been allowed to drag out for far too long as the Club has carried out an investigative process. Moreover, the complete lack of consultation with fans even with respect to process added fuel to the fire. Whilst the speculation and discussion in the last couple of weeks has been profoundly unhelpful and reflected very poorly on the Club, it is clear that they have in the end reached the right decision.
“We are relieved that this matter can now be put behind us and will be working with the Club to ensure lessons have been learned from this very troubling episode.”
Fans are relieved that United finally came to the right conclusion, but it dragged on for far too long because the club were trying to find ways to reintegrate Greenwood into the team.
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Absolutely gutted about Greenwood departure.
Can’t believe he’s not been given more support.
This is a young man that has been found guilty of nothing.
Even Richard Arnold said in his statement the club don’t think he’s guilty yet still they are asking him to leave, The club have bottled it and caved in to public pressure by some high profile figures.
He’s still in a relationship with the girl and indeed now have a baby together, That should tell you all you need to know.
People argue in relationships we have all done it and say things we don’t mean.
What annoys me is people/Organizations are still talking about him as if he had been found guilty, Absolute rubbish.
Can’t believe you guys are saying UTD have made the right decision, Well all the UTD fans I know wanted him to stay.
I HOPE Mason goes on to have a long and successful career and score many goals for another club.
I HOPE that club treats him better than what UTD have done.
The club should be ashamed.
Regards.
Stephen Ridley.
I agree entirely.
I’m incredibly disappointed with the club, disgusted by MUST stating it’s the right decision and as for a certain female presenter of an afternoon puzzle show assuming the role of judge and jury…well, I for one will never watch her show again.
The club were seriously poor in how they handled matters from the outset and it continued throughout.
Well said & very touching Stephen Ridley.It’s unfortunate that it’s a few & influential ‘activists’ whose voices seem to matter in these situations rather than the majority of ppl & the persons directly involved in the case.Such is life.
This is why I think leaving to support man united is a better option than staying with such a club of poor resolutions.
You are right there bro.
My own issue here is how many fans opinion were sampled. I am sure worldwide fans would have never allowed that to happen. And the club should have been more supportive.
If that guy turns out to be innocent, what happen.
Also, this was a relationship between kids and they have realized their mistakes and moved on. Am sure man u will regret this.
Big IF. So far, since January 2022, Mason Greenwood has been able to prove his innocence.
It’s not up to Mason to prove his innocence it’s up to CPS to prove his guilty, That’s how the law works.
And to repeat my earlier comment Richard Arnold has said after a in depth investigation they believe Mason to be innocent.
So that should be enough.
Yes UTD would have got some adverse publicity if they had stuck by him but this would have only lasted a few months and then died away, Remember Cantona!
Now they have lost a player that could have helped the club win trophies over the next ten years.
If this had gone to trial and he had been found guilty I wouldn’t be writing this, But the facts are he’s innocent no charges have been proven.
That’s the bottom line.
UTD just needed to back him and take the flack for a while.
By Xmas nobody would even be talking about this.
Well said again Stephen.I like your rational & objective approach in this matter & I wish ppl like you were at the helm of this club that’s slowly turning into a circus at all fronts.As u correctly put it had the club stood by him they would have taken a flack for a while & things would have eventually normalized.The Zouma issue at West Ham is another recent example that demonstrates how fickle the mob is.We heard boos just after the infamous incident but they are all gone now & the guy is captaining the side as we speak. Some of us cannot help but suspect that there were other issues, sinister in nature at play in this drama other than these unproven GBV allegations.with time the truth will eventually come out.All the best to Mason & his young family.
Excellent point about Zouma.
Well said.
Stephen, are you happy to ignore the evidence in the public domain, which ultimately forced Arnold’s U-turn last week? The charges were dropped – not cleared (despite the factual error in one party’s statement).
Greenwood isn’t claiming innocence after apologising for ‘mistakes’ in his statement either.
I can’t help but wonder if you would be as happy to brush this under the carpet if photos of an audio file of similar nature featured your mother, sister etc.
What evidence in the public domain ?
All I’ve seen/Heard is a few high profile celebrities/Organizations saying they wouldn’t support UTD if he was brought back.
Mason in his statement did say he was innocent of all charges brought against him but did admit to making other mistakes in his relationship, I suggest you read his statement again.
Of course I wouldn’t be happy if something like this happened to my family but only if after a thorough investigation it was found to be true.
You can’t judge someone on a few seconds of audio footage.
This is why the CPS dropped the charges because there wasn’t enough evidence for a conviction, The girlfriend retracted her statement and now the club are saying they don’t think he committed any crime.
What more do you want ?
Seems to me like you are the one ignoring the facts.
Like I said earlier if he had been found guilty in a court of law then yes I would agreeing he should go.
But Mason hasn’t been found guilty of anything so by the laws of the land he should have been given another chance.
It’s not our job to convict someone by what we see in the press or on Social media.
The CPS and the club have more knowledge of what happened than any of us and one is saying not enough evidence to convict and the other is saying they don’t think he was guilty on what they have been told.
End of story.
The club bottled it because they were worried about the image of the club.
That’s the bottom line.
The evidence you’ve continued to ignore, Stephen.
What evidence Dale?Gory pictures on social media?What if they are doctored?Who really knows the truth?Was there any medical reports to verify that there indeed were any injuries inflicted on the alleged victim?Does anyone know the reasons why the family decided to withdraw the charges?Honestly we all don’t know. Nothing conclusive here to be honest.Just admit that Man U bungled up on this one as has been their tendency of late.
If I was wrongly accused, I don’t think I’d be silent about that material. The audio is extremely damning as well but we’ve got another person here (YOU) that is happy to ignore that. I wonder if Welly would think different if it was his daughter in this situation.
Your insistence on concluding that Mason is guilty on the basis of his reluctance to publicly profess his innocence is flawed Dale.I don’t know how familiar you are with religion & Christianity in particular where Jesus who was wrongly accused of drummed up charges refused to defend himself much to the bemusement of his accusers.I am not in any way equating Mason with Jesus by the way.lol.The guy obviously has his reasons for doing so & I cannot rule out the possibility that it could include protecting the alleged victim herself since they are back together & are moving on with their lives, a fact which seems to mean nothing to all those whose swords are drawn against Mason.The families concerned know the full story.We simply dont.as for the audio I think Stephen Ridely there once again gives an apt response. bringing in the issue of how one would respond should the same be done to their daughter in a bid to probably evoke some emotional response in this discussion is unnecessary at this juncture.lets stick to the facts-the Man U hierarchy acknowledges the lad’s innocence & you seem to dispute that.Having said that I too like Stephen Ridley whose objectivity & rationality has deeply impressed me,I too rest my case & cease to comment on this matter.Let us agree to disagree on this matter though I don’t doubt our love for this club.thanx
UNITED a club without balls, What did the United do when Ronaldo was accused of rape? NOTHING.
The current crop of players & new ones now know that ManU will not back their players in time of need. ANTHONY NEXT!!
This is a club that states Greenwood is innocent but takes a decision which applies only to a guilty person.
Weak management.
From a life long ManU supporter.
Shame on you ManU
True Patrick.double standards & selective application of justice by the powers that be.As u correctly suggest a precedence has bn set & we hold our breath to see who is next.its a matter of time before the chickens come home to roost.
Come on, Welly. Some pathetic violin-playing here.
Dale I really don’t get where your coming from with saying I’m ignoring the evidence.
Firstly on keeping quiet.
Mason would have been told by his legal team to not say anything about the case.
That’s why he’s not spoken out, He had no choice but to stay quiet.
Secondly you keep referring to this audio message as evidence.
Yes it did sound bad, Was it Mason, Probably, But that was a short clip from a much longer message, The rest of which we have never heard.
But the CPS have and so have the club which has led them to A drop the charges and B say on record we believe Mason is innocent of these charges.
The one thing I will say is the girlfriend should have come out and made a statement backing Mason after the charges were dropped, After all she retracted her original statement and has now had his child.
The only thing that I can see Mason been guilty of as it stands is he was verbally abusive towards her during an argument which I’m sure a lot of men have done.
Was this enough for UTD to get rid of him, I don’t think so.
As for the photo that’s always looked fake to me, It just doesn’t look right.
I think one of the key things to remember in this is what the CPS said when they dropped the charges.
They said due to witnesses dropping out and the coming to light OF NEW EVIDENCE this makes the likelihood of a conviction very remote therefore it is not in the public interest to proceed.
Now nobody has ever disclosed what this new evidence was but it obviously supported Mason and not the girlfriend.
I don’t surmise on what might have happened between them I look at the facts and base my judgment on that.
And the facts are he has not been found guilty of anything but is being treated as if he is.
I believe I have made my point very clear and if you don’t agree that’s up to you but i’m fairly confident most UTD fans would agree with me over you.
But for now I have a life to live so I will not be commenting on this subject anymore.
I just feel sorry for Mason that he has been let down by the club and by you at MUST.
I hope you never get accused of something that you know you never did.
Iam in supporting that Man utd should consider and bring him back again, if not iam supporting either Man city, Chelsea, Arsenal or Newcastle should sign him so that he should score Man utd
I totally agree with Daniel, I also was thinking of following Greenwood to his new club, unless the spinless management take him back.
Yes, this reflects the views of the United supporters I know , that the boy deserved a chance to settle with his new family in an environment he knows, not Saudi or Turkey for heaven’s sake.
Such a shame tha the Guardian reading holier-than-thou section of the prawn sandwich eaters have colluded with the ABU press to show what our society does to young black working-class men accused of a crime.
To me it’s because Mason Greenwood is black, if the boy is not guilty of the offense why do you still asked him to leave the club, when you know that, you can’t buy high class profile attacker , we the Africans are disappointed of the decision of the club.