Mason Greenwood has landed in France ahead of a medical after Marseille reached an agreement to sign him from Manchester United for £27million plus £3.2m in add-ons.
Fans greeted the forward with flares and chants of his name as he waved to them at the airport.
Joey Barton has backed his impending move despite many fans reacted furiously to being linked with him – and insisted England could have won Euro 2024 by playing the striker.
The forward, 22, was charged with attempted rape, assault and controlling and coercive behaviour in October 2022, but the charges and case were dropped in February 2023 when key witnesses withdrew. Greenwood has denied any wrongdoing.
Livid Marseille fans launched a #GreenwoodNotWelcome campaign after initial links, but Barton, who played for the Ligue 1 side in 2012-13, is adamant he ‘deserves a chance’.
Joey Barton has claimed England would have won Euro 2024 with Mason Greenwood in the team – and backed his impending move to Marseille
Marseille have reached an agreement in principle to sign Greenwood from Man United
Greenwood spent the 2023-24 season on loan at laLiga club Getafe and scored 10 goals
‘That is a great signing. This kid deserves a chance to get on with his career,’ Barton wrote on X.
‘We all make mistakes. Nobody’s perfect. England would have won the Euros with this kid in the side.
‘He’s as good a player as any in that Euros squad. His behaviour and the public fallout has massively affected his performance, yet he went to an average team in Spain and got himself back on track!’
The Three Lions lost the Euro 2024 final to Spian on Sunday and manager Gareth Southgate has since resigned after eight years at the helm.
Greenwood must still complete a medical and sign any necessary paperwork for the Marseille move to be complete. Last season he was on loan at LaLiga club Getafe, where he scored 10 goals.
Marseille’s mayor Benoit Payan has opposed the move, saying he would lobby the club’s president Pablo Longoria to call off the deal.
Greenwood returned to Carrington on Monday to speak with United chiefs about leaving. He has not played for the Red Devils since January 2022, when the allegations came out.
The charges against him were dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service following the withdrawal of key witnesses, but the club continued its own internal investigatio into a series of harrowing images and audio recordings. In August 2023 it was announced he would…