Lazio president Claudio Lotito has claimed he has no regrets over failing to sign Mason Greenwood from Manchester United in the summer.
The Serie A club reportedly had a bid rejected for the winger in the summer transfer window by United after his fruitful season on loan at Getafe.
Greenwood ended up netting ten times and assisting six goals in LaLiga, attracting interest from many European clubs, including the Italian side.
However, they were beaten to the 23-year-old's signature by Marseille, who struck a £30million deal with United to bring him to France.
Three months on from missing out on the forward, Lotito has spoken out on his feelings about Greenwood snubbing Lazio.
'It’s absolutely not a regret,' said Lotito. 'We don’t want mercenaries. He’s happy at Marseille, Mason made a choice and that’s fine. We don’t accept mercenaries, we only want those who choose Lazio.'
However, Greenwood's transfer to Marseille was marred by controversy. The forward was arrested in January 2022 for allegations of attempted rape, assault, and coercive behaviour.
Charges were later dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service following the 'withdrawal of key witnesses and new material coming to light'.
Last month, Pablo Longoria, Marseille president, claimed that it was Roberto de Zerbi's wish to sign Greenwood.
The Italian relayed his desire to bring in the forward during his first conversation with the board after being appointed as their manager in June.
Speaking about the decision at the Thinking Football Summit, Longoria said: 'We took the decision internally.
Greenwood has netted five goals in seven games for the French outfit, also assisting once
'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.'
Greenwood has scored five goals in seven matches in Ligue 1, netting all of them in his first three games for Marseille.