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England boss Gareth Southgate has finally addressed the future of Mason Greenwood with the national team and admitted that his inclusion in the Euro 2024 squad would be a huge distraction for the team during the tournament.
Greenwood was controversially suspended by Manchester United in January 2022 after he was arrested on suspicion of raping and assaulting a woman.
He was then charged with the offences but the case against him was eventually dropped in February 2023, with the Crown Prosecution Service citing the withdrawal of key witnesses as the main reason for their decision not to pursue the matter any longer.
United subsequently launched an internal investigation into the matter and had provisionally planned to bring him back until their plans got leaked by the media.
Following backlash and public outrage, club bosses led by former CEO Richard Arnold reversed their decision and decided to send the Englishman to Getafe on loan for the 2023/24 campaign.
Greenwood has found a new lease of life at Estadio Coliseum, where he seems to be getting back to his sensational best and enjoying his football once more.
Ahead of Euro 2024, the possibility of Greenwood being called up for England was always going to come up at some point, especially amidst his impressive loan spell at Getafe.
According to Southgate, Greenwood is currently not in his plans for the Three Lions.
The England manager however did not close the door on the forward playing for his country later in future but conceded he would first have to conduct his own inquiry into the forward’s conduct and character.
Southgate said, “Well for me I don’t think it’s something for pre-Euros. I think allowing him to get his career going again abroad appears to have been a good move but I have to say I have not tracked it closely.”
“I think at this moment in time it would be a big distraction for the team and let’s see where that leads next season.”
On the possibility of Greenwood playing for England in future, the 53-year-old coach remarked, “I would need to know more details about the whole thing before it was an option.”
The Carrington academy graduate has just one England appearance to his name – when he made his debut against Iceland in September 2020.
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