Revealed: Mason Greenwood ‘was requested by new Marseille manager Roberto De Zerbi in his FIRST talks about taking over’, as details of his £30m transfer are released

Club president Pablo Longoria has said that Roberto de Zerbi asked to sign Mason Greenwood during his first conversation with the board after being appointed as their manager in June. 

Greenwood completed a £30million move to Marseille from Manchester United in July after spending a season on loan at Getafe. However, Greenwood’s move to Marseille was marred with controversy.

Greenwood was arrested in January 2022 for allegations of attempted rape, assault and coercive behaviour. However, charges were dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service following the ‘withdrawal of key witnesses and new material coming to light’.

Nevertheless, the Marseille fans still harboured their own reservations while the mayor of Marseille Benoit Payan publicly opposed the signing of Greenwood during the summer.

But, Longoria remains confident Marseille made the right decision – claiming they all believed in the ‘talent’ of Greenwood after De Zerbi first suggested the idea of signing him. 

Club president Pablo Longoria has doubled down on Marseille’s decision to sign Greenwood

Marseille have been handed an immediate return on their investment in the former United star, with Greenwood scoring five goals in his opening three appearances

Speaking about the decision at the Thinking Football Summit, Longoria said: ‘The comments of the mayor reinforce what we did, [they did] not have all the information.

‘We took the decision internally. OK, there was some opposition, that was objective, but at the same time that gave us power to maybe not investigate, because I am not a judge, but to use all the information to take the best decision, which I think we did.’

He added: ‘In our very first conversation with the coach [Roberto de Zerbi] we mentioned Mason’s name. The coach knew Mason from the past and it was a very quick conversation…