Mason Greenwood's journey to hero status at Marseille

The right-winger has already become the poster boy for the Ligue 1 side.

This season, Marseille have reason for optimism again, Mason Greenwood has become the unlikely poster boy of a new era led by Roberto De Zerbi, the former Brighton manager.

Greenwood’s turbulent background appears to have vanished from some followers’ collective memory thanks to his meteoric rise to fame in the south of France, and many who were once opposed to the new cult hero have since overshadowed their concerns.

After footage and audio of an alleged assault surfaced online, Greenwood became a football villain in England. In October 2022, when he was 20 years old, he was charged with attempted rape, dominating and abusive behaviour, and assault resulting in actual bodily damage, but he rejected the charges. Manchester United suspended him in January 2022 after his arrest. But in February 2023, those accusations were dropped due to the absence of important witnesses.

After a lengthy internal assessment, United decided not to keep the one-cap England international, and he was loaned to Getafe last season. Throughout the legal procedure, the player had been treated like an outsider at United.

The 22-year-old restored his football career in Spain, and earlier this summer, he completed the unavoidably contentious £27 million ($35 million) transfer to Marseille, as the Red Devils were determined to let him go.

Mason Greenwood the hero of Marseille.

Greenwood made his competitive debut on the first day of the season, showcasing his dominance in a 5-1 away hammering of Brest, where he contributed to every goal. He opened his account in just three minutes, winning the ball on the right wing, dribbling past his defender, and finishing past the custodian and into the bottom corner. Before the half, he would make it a brace by scoring a penalty.

In their subsequent match, Marseille were not as strong as they were against Reims; but, as time ran out, Greenwood saved them with a 2-1 victory for the visitors. Twenty minutes remained, and the Englishman sent the Velodrome into raptures by rising at the back post to nod in a loose ball after the custodian had parried it away.

Matchday three found OM playing on the road against Toulouse. Greenwood started the game strongly, scoring twice in the first half of the match in less than a minute to put OM ahead 3-1. Greenwood has five goals compared to Erling Haaland’s seven in the top five leagues in Europe thus far in 2024–25.

Une arrivée remarquée en @Ligue1 avec 5 buts en 3 matchs ! 💥𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐝 est votre #OlympienDuMoisPuma d’août 🏅 pic.twitter.com/IeJdzxACi3

— Olympique de Marseille (@OM_Officiel) September 11, 2024

Backed by the manager

De Zerbi who has backed Greenwood at the club even went on to say that he will defend the player ”like a son.”

“How far can Mason Greenwood go with me? I don’t know,” the Italian commented following Greenwood’s equaliser against Reims – a game that Marseille were widely expected to win. “He has to keep training like he does. Mason Greenwood is a serious boy, and we are all satisfied with him as a player, and as a person. He has a huge margin of improvement.

“Greenwood is simply exceptional. He is an excellent player, and it shows. I am happy to see him score to put an end to all the controversy in the media.”

Positive support from the fans

As it happens, Greenwood’s goal-scoring heroics appear to have disregarded the previous charges against him, but the PR apparatus was already in place long before the transfer materialised.

The 22-year-old has been positively portrayed in French and international media, with little reference made to the previous case against him. Marseille’s press staff monitored the questions during his inaugural press conference, quickly cutting off any discussion of the claims.

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