Manchester United players who haven’t featured in the recent international competitions will return to training camp tomorrow, but neither Mason Greenwood nor David de Gea will be there. Training camp, to prepare for the upcoming season, is here and neither the De Gea nor Greenwood situation is resolved.
And we’re only a week away from the first preseason friendly against Leeds United!
Let’s start with Greenwood, who is preparing for a return for football after 17 months plus away from the game. He has been spotted in public training with a private coach, and sporting a new, more businesslike hair style. He remains indefinitely suspended and under internal investigation by the club.
However, an update from the Daily Mail states:
The Glazer family and chief executive Richard Arnold will have the final say over Greenwood’s fate, but it would be in everyone’s best interests if this whole sorry saga was resolved as soon as possible so it cannot cast its shadow over a third season. The signs are that it will be.
Let’s certainly hope so!
Like everything else at United, during the Glazer era, this has dragged out far too long already. Yes, there is plenty of video and audio evidence to convict him in the court of public opinion. That’s backed up by Nike and EA Sports cutting his contracts entirely. However, in the court of law, the charges have all been dropped.
I’m not Greenwood defender and certainly not a Greenwood fan, but the club needs to make a final decision now. The whole point of that Mail article we cited is, hey, this can’t go on and spill into a third football season. Take a stance and go with it, finally.
He could conceivably go out on loan, which would make a lot of sense. And if so, here are some of the more possible destinations for him.
Speaking of tedious indecision, and the failure to pick a lane- we still don’t know if De Gea is actually leaving for good or not yet. He’s now a free agent, but the club is continuing contract talks with his camp. They all better get it figured out, and soon, because this messiness is spilling over into the process of picking a successor.
According to the Manchester Evening News, the pursuit of Inter Milan’s Andre Onana hinges on what happens with De Gea. According to multiple reports, United are about to submit a bid of £40 million ($51m) to Inter for their Cameroon international. More on that here.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now. Follow the website on Twitter and Instagram.