Mason Greenwood joins Marseille from Man United for £30m as French club confirm signing... with forward, 22, finally securing a permanent move away from Old Trafford

Mason Greenwood has completed his £30million move to Marseille from Manchester United.

Greenwood, 22, will link up with former Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi after signing a contract with the French side. The deal is worth £27m plus £3.2m in add-ons.

The England international had not played for Man United since January 2022 and spent last season on loan at Getafe, scoring 10 goals and registering six assists on his way to being named the club's player of the season.

Greenwood was arrested that month and later charged with attempted rape, assault and controlling and coercive behaviour in October 2022, but the charges and case were dropped in February 2023 when key witnesses withdrew. Greenwood has denied any wrongdoing.

His potential move to France sparked a backlash from livid Marseille fans, who launched a #GreenwoodNotWelcome campaign when he was initially linked with the club.

Marseille's mayor Benoit Payan also opposed the move, saying he would lobby the club's president Pablo Longoria to call off the deal.

Greenwood, however, received a warm reception from fans when he arrived for his medical on Wednesday. Fans greeted the forward with flares and chants of his name as he waved to them at the airport.

His former club confirmed the news on Thursday, sharing a brief statement which wished their former academy graduate 'all the best in his future career'.  

Joey Barton is among the others to have backed the move. 'That is a great signing. This kid deserves a chance to get on with his career,' Barton, who spent a season on loan at Marseille in the 2012-13 campaign, wrote on X. 

'We all make mistakes. Nobody’s perfect. England would have won the Euros with this kid in the side.

'He’s as good a player as any in that Euros squad. His behaviour and the public fallout has massively affected his performance, yet he went to an average team in Spain and got himself back on track!

'I hope Mason and his family find peace and prosperity in the south of France. Be allowed to get on with their young lives. And hopefully he can get the opportunity to atone for his errors. 

Greenwood returned to Carrington on Monday to speak with United chiefs about leaving. He has not played for the Red Devils since January 2022, when the allegations came out. 

The charges against him were dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service following the withdrawal of key witnesses, but the club continued its own internal investigation into a series of harrowing images and audio recordings. 

In August 2023 it was announced he would leave by mutual agreement after it was decided Greenwood should resume his career away from United.

That came despite the club initially deciding to bring Greenwood back into the fold before performing a u-turn following significant backlash.

Manchester United's partial owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe had also left the door open to Greenwood returning after taking a 25 per cent stake in the club last December. 

‘It’s a fresh decision,’ he said despite the club previously ruling out a return. 

'I can talk about the principle. I am not going to talk about Mason. I am familiar with it. The principle is the important one. We will have other issues going forwards.

'You are dealing with young people who have not always been brought up in the best circumstances, who have a lot of money and they don’t always have the guidance they should have.

'What we need to do when have issues like that is understand real affects not the hype then we need to make a fair decision in the light of the club’s values. That’s what we need to do and that’s how we will deal with it.'

The sale of Greenwood, who made 129 appearances for United, boosts the club's transfer kitty this summer as the fee can be registered as pure profit because he came through the academy.

United are set to sign highly-rated Lille defender Leny Yoro for £52m, while Dutch striker Joshua Zirkzee has joined from Bologna in a £36.5m deal.