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Mason Greenwood has requested the probe by Liga officials into Jude Bellingham’s alleged slur towards the English forward be dropped.
Greenwood has not played for Manchester United since being arrested on suspicion of rape, assault and making threats to kill in January 2022. He was later charged with attempted rape, controlling and coercive behaviour and assault occasioning actual bodily harm in October 2022. These charges were then dropped in February 2023 following the Crown Prosecution’s decision to discontinue the case.
Greenwood has always denied the charges brought against him.
Towards the end of the summer last year, proposals by United officials to reintegrate the 22-year-old into their first-team squad were leaked by The Athletic. This led to massive public backlash and a hasty retreat by Old Trafford executives, who instead panickily decided a move away from the club was the best option for Greenwood.
The 22-year-old then joined La Liga side Getafe on loan at the end of the summer transfer window. He’s played 25 times for his newly adopted side this season.
Earlier this month, during a tense game between Getafe and Real Madrid, Bellingham appeared to mouth the words “r-pist” at Greenwood, following a challenge between the two players.
The match finished 2-0 to los Blancos but Getafe officials complained to La Liga authorities over the alleged incident. Manager Jose Bordalas also offered a staunch defence of Greenwood as a “great guy” in a press-conference.
“I know the same thing that you know. It’s not up to me, it’s the club, La Liga and the Federation that have to make an assessment about it. The only thing that I can say is that I ask for respect from Mason Greenwood because he is a great guy. He is a man who respects everyone and has exemplary behaviour,” Bordalas revealed.
In response to the complaint, La Liga issued a statement confirming their intention to investigate the matter:
“Getafe yesterday transferred the complaint to the La Liga match director and La Liga, as it always does on these occasions, has requested an expert report on lip reading to investigate the matter and act on the basis of what can be proven beyond doubt (by the lip reader).”
At the time this investigation was launched, which could see Bellingham receive a lengthy ban if found guilty, it was reported Greenwood “wanted no fuss of any kind.”
The Sun now contends the 22-year-old forward wants the probe into Bellingham’s insult dropped completely. The report quotes a source close to to the player, who reveals Greenwood has directly communicated to Liga officials he does not wish for them to pursue the matter any further.
“Mason has told them he doesn’t want Jude to be punished and has asked them to drop it. He doesn’t want bad publicity and wants to get on with playing football,” the source states. “He was very upset at the time as he didn’t expect it from someone like Jude. But he knows he’s always likely to be a target for that kind of stuff so he’s accepted he’ll need a thick skin.”
A stir was made over a potential return to Old Trafford for Greenwood, following comments by Sir Jim Ratcliffe – the club’s new co-owner, and sole controller of the football operation at United.
When asked about the situation with the 22-year-old, Ratcliffe replied, “It’s a fresh decision. 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. We need to look at facts, judge fairly and take into consideration what the values of the club are.”
The Daily Mirror reveals these words “sent shockwaves through the club”, with the British billionaire potentially risking the ‘feel-good’ factor the early stages of the INEOS revolution at Old Trafford have produced.
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