Mason Greenwood holds the key to Man Utd transfer plans after £30m bid submitted
Mason Greenwood appears to hold the key to Manchester United's summer transfer plans as the club battles Financial Fair Play restrictions.
United are only permitted a net spend of around £50million in this summer's transfer window. That means they will likely have to sell several stars with a major rebuild of Erik ten Hag's squad planned.
Greenwood is one of the players who has been earmarked for a departure from the Red Devils. The striker was arrested in October 2022 and was subsequently charged with attempted rape, engaging in controlling and coercive behaviour, and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Those charges were dropped in February 2023 by the Crown Prosecution Service, but after an internal review, United decided he would not play another game for the club. After a successful spell on loan at Getafe, Greenwood is now attracting interest.
According to The Times, Lazio have now submitted a £30million for the 22-year-old. The Serie A side have included performance-based add-ons in their bid, which edges it closer to United's £40m valuation, but the club will wait for more offers.
United are in no rush to sell and are keen to get as close as possible to their valuation of the Englishman. Juventus and Napoli are also in the running for Greenwood, while Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid have registered their interest too.
Greenwood is under contract until the summer of 2025, but would be in United's interest to sell this summer. That is because any fee received for Greenwood would count as pure profit as a result of the striker coming through United's academy.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe in interview with Bloomberg
That would go some way to easing their concerns when it comes the net spend. If they breach the £50m limit, United would be in serious danger of breaching the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules.
United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has already suffered one blow in the market this summer. He has seen a move for Nice star Jean-Claude Tobido blocked by UEFA because he also owns the French side.
Under UEFA rules, a single owner is not allowed to have control over two clubs competing in the same competition, with United and Nice taking part in the Europa League next season. That means Ratcliffe must place Nice into a 'blind trust', but the billionaire has criticised UEFA for preventing clubs who belong to the same group from trading players.
“They’ve said we can sell him to another Premiership club, but we can't sell to Manchester United,” Ratcliffe told Bloomberg. “But that's not fair on the player and I don’t see what that achieves.
"The coach isn't the central issue at Manchester United. It’s a sports club. It needs to be competitive, it needs a degree of intensity, but with a supportive side to it because you are dealing with players who are relatively young. It hasn’t had that type of environment historically.”
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