He arrived to a hero’s reception and supporters cheered his name when he touched down in Marseille to complete his transfer last week.
Yet the signing of Mason Greenwood has divided this passionate fanbase in a football hotbed, with working-class roots and a culturally diverse population.
Benoit Payan, the mayor of Marseille, said he wanted to block the transfer and that it would cover the city in “shame”.
But the club pressed ahead. Marseille have signed Greenwood for a total package of £26.7million ($34.5m), and even though Manchester United have secured a hefty sell-on clause, it’s undoubtedly — off-field issues aside — a good price for a player of his age and ability. Other European clubs, such as Lazio, were also keen to sign him.
The 22-year-old permanently leaves United after the club ditched plans to reintegrate him into their first-team squad last summer following fierce public and internal backlash that came after a story from The Athletic breaking news of the club’s plans. United subsequently loaned him to Getafe in La Liga, where he won their player of the season award last season.
In February last year, the UK Crown Prosecution Service discontinued the case against Greenwood for attempted rape, assault, and coercive control saying “a combination of the withdrawal of key witnesses and new material meant there was no longer a realistic prospect of conviction”. Greenwood denied all the allegations against him.
Now, along the streets of Marseille, it’s clear many supporters are happy to have Greenwood. He will almost certainly improve their team, especially off the back of that promising loan spell at Getafe, where he scored 10 goals and contributed six assists in 36 appearances in all competitions.
Marseille president Pablo Longoria shakes hands with Greenwood, as Fabrizio Ravanelli looks on (Clement Mahoudeau/AFP via Getty Images)
After another tumultuous campaign last season that saw the club go through three different permanent managers, there’s a renewed sense of optimism for Marseille under recently appointed manager Roberto De Zerbi.
Outside the Brasserie Le Batavia Tabac, close to Marseille’s home ground, Stade Velodrome, a group of middle-aged men are drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes. They are glad Marseille have attracted a player of Greenwood’s calibre.
To them, Greenwood is viewed as the perfect fit to replace striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who on the same night as Greenwood joined announced he was leaving for Saudi Pro League side Al Qadsiah. Aubameyang scored 30 goals last season for Marseille.
Quiet excitement, perhaps — but there’s no Greenwood fervour in Marseille and no rush to buy a replica shirt with his name on the back at the club shop next to the Velodrome the next morning. Instead, there’s a steady trickle of fans, tourists and families.
An hour after the club shop opened its doors at 10am, The Athletic spotted the first fan — a teenage boy, visiting from the northwest of France with his family, wearing a ‘Greenwood, 10’ shirt. His parents said they didn’t know who the footballer was.
(Tom Burrows/The Athletic)
Outside the store, Quentin Courtot, 21, wearing a Marseille shirt, summed up the prevailing mood of the fanbase. “It’s half (of the fans) happy, half have concerns,” he said. “It’s a very passionate fanbase here, one of the best sporting communities in France, so if he plays well he will be very popular. It could end up being a great signing.”
That sentiment is shared by others across the city.
Olivier Marecaux, 24, originally from Chile, took a quick cigarette break from his busy waiting shift at the Cafe du Commerce close to Vieux Port to discuss his side’s latest recruit with The Athletic.
“I talked with some friends and I think we all agree that Greenwood is a very good player, talented — but there is this past and the allegations that make it hard to support him 100 per cent,” he said.
“Some will say he’s not a good person. But if he starts well and plays well, everyone will love him and the past will be forgotten. Generally, the Marseille fans are like that. A lot will be judged on performance because they want to win. It’s very passionate and it’s all about the present, not the future.”
“It’s controversial, obviously,” said Etienne, 30, a couple of hours later at a drinking spot overlooking Vieux Port. “Myself? I don’t support the fact we sign someone like this. But it’s a massive club. If he succeeds, it’s a good move and the type of city where, if he does well, everyone will back him.
“Football is so important to the culture here. If he plays at his level, everyone will forget his past.”
The passion of the supporters is something that former defender Chris Makin can attest to, having played for Marseille in the 1996-97 season.
“If he scores 20 to 30 goals next season, the fans will be on his side,” Makin told The Athletic. “That’s the world we live in at the moment. He obviously has a manager who believes in him.
“My main memories of my time there are what a football club OM is and how immense the fans are — as long as you don’t lose a home game. I think it’s a no-brainer for OM at that price because he will guarantee goals and also because of his relatively young age.
“I think it’s a signing that shows intent from the club. Greenwood couldn’t have picked a better club in terms of fanbase. He’ll love it.”
It’s not just on the streets of Marseille where the fans are splintered, though.
Online, both #GreenwoodNotWelcome and #GreenwoodWelcome have trended over the past week.
Many groups and supporters share the same opinion as the city’s mayor — and now find themselves put in an awkward moral position by the Marseille hierarchy. To them, it seems at odds with the decision from club president Pablo Longoria to open their training ground to female domestic abuse victims during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Marseille also has a reputation for being a progressive club in what is a left-leaning and multicultural city — one where “F*** the RN” (National Front) stickers are plastered on walls and the residents celebrated into the night earlier this month after an alliance of left-wing parties secured a surprise victory in the French election.
“The president spoke about morality after stadium violence, he’s spoken out against illegally streaming football — but there’s no morality for a footballer, just because he’s good. It’s embarrassing and, as a fan, you can’t do anything,” Aryles, of Marseille multimedia outlet Massilia Zone, said.
Female campaign groups have also added their voice to the debate. Dare Feminism said: “Once again, talent is considered enough to turn a blind eye to these accusations.”
“It is an illustration of the impunity enjoyed by people accused of sexist and sexual violence. The vast majority return to normal lives,” said Carine Delahaie, spokesperson for the Femmes Solidaires association.
Meanwhile, the United fan group Female Fans Against Greenwood’s Return said of the transfer: “We hope that this whole sorry episode might spark some sort of change, and make young players realise that you can have all the talent in the world but, ultimately, it’s your humanity and compassion, or lack of it, that will make or break your success.”
On Friday afternoon, the day after Greenwood’s signing, a press conference was hastily called at Marseille’s training ground, a 15-minute drive from the city centre.
Outside, a group of excited young Marseille supporters loitered with their iPhones at the ready, hoping to catch sight of Greenwood. They called his signing “incredible”. However, they were left disappointed as he was quickly driven through the gates in a white BMW and past them in a flash.
Inside, Greenwood said he “didn’t want” to talk about his off-field allegations. Marseille then refused to answer any questions from journalists, including from The Athletic, on the topic.
A day earlier, Greenwood told the French newspaper La Provence: “I am aware of all this, of course, (the mayor’s comments) but I do not want to enter into any controversy, I already expressed my feelings last year (in a press release from August 2023). Today, all of this is now behind us.”
During the press conference, which began with fellow new signing Lilian Brassier being introduced, Greenwood spoke for around 10 minutes (much of which was spent translating his answers from English to French) to around a dozen reporters. He kept his answers short and to the point. He was serious and contemplative, though smiled for the inevitable pictures with his new No 10 shirt.
He talked about now having a wonderful baby girl and said he and his partner were looking forward to starting their new adventure in France. Greenwood said Marseille already felt like home and he was “focusing on club football this season.” He added how De Zerbi was a huge influence in convincing him to join.
Am at Olympique de Marseille’s training ground for press conference welcoming Mason Greenwood to the club – he’s just arrived
Marseille will pay initial £23.3m, with a further £3.4m in add-ons, bringing total package to £26.7m, although #MUFC have secured a hefty sell-on clause pic.twitter.com/OX7N9tUxau
— Tom Burrows (@TBurrows16) July 19, 2024
He sat next to the club’s president Longoria. The 38-year-old Spaniard appeared thrilled at the signing but said he understood the arrival raised a lot of questions and concerns.
“I respect everyone’s opinion,” Longoria said. “But I am not here to get into controversy. We are talking about the past. It is a complex and old situation.
“It is time to talk about the future. As president, I will support Mason to help him achieve the club’s objectives. I will help him as a player and as a man. He has all the values that we want to develop in the club like all his team-mates who are here and those who will arrive.”
After questions solely related to football, Greenwood posed for photos alongside Longoria and Fabrizio Ravanelli, the club’s new sporting adviser, before he was taken away.
His new manager De Zerbi has called Greenwood “world-class” and said he would defend his players “like my sons”.
If Greenwood stars at Marseille and helps return the club to their former glories, there’s a feeling the supporters here will also back him to the hilt. Marseille is a famous and historically successful club that is adored in a football-mad city — think Naples in Italy or Leeds in England.
Walking around the city, there’s a smattering of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Manchester City and Juventus shirts, but the most popular football shirt is that of OM. In the La Plaine area of the city, there are Marseille murals dotted around the square, while Stade Velodrome, Marseille’s 67,000-seater stadium, is iconic and imposing.
(Tom Burrows/The Athletic)
Marseille are the only French club to have won the Champions League, the inaugural competition in 1993, and have won Ligue 1 nine times — their last one was in 2010 before rivals Paris Saint-Germain’s period of total domination, bankrolled by Qatar Sports Investments (QSI).
Yet Marseille are still playing catch up despite more than €500million of investment from the American Frank McCourt, the former LA Dodgers owner, who bought the club eight years ago.
Last season was another bewildering campaign as Marseille started the season with Marcelino as manager, followed by Gennaro Gattuso and finally Jean-Louis Gasset after he’d been sacked by Ivory Coast halfway through AFCON. They stuttered domestically, finishing eighth, although they reached the semi-final of the Europa League.
De Zerbi’s arrival from Brighton is regarded as a coup for Marseille and Ligue 1 — which only just secured domestic TV rights for the upcoming season after a shambolic saga.
With De Zerbi in the dugout and Greenwood in the side, they will expect to finish far higher up the table this time around.
For Greenwood, his career at Marseille may begin where it all started for him: a trip to Bradford, the UK city where he was born. Marseille face Sunderland on August 3 at Valley Parade, home of League Two side Bradford City.
He could then make his debut in front of the home fans against Reims on August 25.
If he hits the ground running, he will go some way to turning the Marseille doubters into believers in a city where many are struggling to come to terms with his arrival.
(Top photo: Longoria introduces Greenwood. Clement Mahoudeau/AFP via Getty Images)