Mason Greenwood and the toxic transfer that's torn Marseille in two

At the entrance to the Marseille club shop, down the steps from the exaggerated curves of the Stade Velodrome, an annexe greets punters as they stroll in off the tree-lined coastal road.

In the middle of that annexe, front and centre, stands a mannequin dressed in a pristine white home shirt. It has been turned around so the number ‘10’ and the name ‘Greenwood’, both in pale blue, are visible on the back.

Over 10 minutes on a scorching August morning in the summer holidays, four different groups of fans, most with young children among them, stop for selfies with it. They all smile for the camera as the button on the phone is pressed.

Through the glass doors to the left and into the megastore itself, is a sweeping counter behind which stands no fewer than seven heat pressers. Each is in constant operation as busy staff methodically print that same name and number on the back of the jerseys those in a 20-strong queue are handing over.

Again, many of those present are kids. It would be a jarring scene to any who heard and saw the harrowing content posted online on a Sunday morning in January 2022 which led to Mason Greenwood’s arrest and the end of his Manchester United career.

On Saturday, wearing that No10, Greenwood, scored two, won a penalty and had a hand in the other two for his new club as they dismantled Brest 5-1 on the road on the opening weekend of the Ligue 1 season. It was a fine debut and it will no doubt shift more of those shirts.

But the significance was bigger than that. Up in the director’s box those responsible for bringing the 22-year-old to the Cote d’Azur will have been delighted - because their decision represents one of the biggest gambles in this proud club’s history.

That pride is at the heart of a matter that, despite the picture at the club shop, has torn Marseille in half. When news emerged that OM, as they are affectionately known, had signed Greenwood, it split this football-mad city.

Marseille is not Getafe, the Spanish outpost where the gifted Bradford-born forward took the first steps to rebuild a broken career.

In the suburbs of Madrid, few had acute knowledge of what had happened in Manchester to ensure a player well out of their reach was suddenly in the neighbourhood side for a 12-month loan.

But in Marseille, football is religion. Here, plenty know all about the background. They know Greenwood was charged with attempted rape, assault and coercive control and that the case was discontinued with prosecutors saying a withdrawal of key witnesses and new material had meant conviction was unlikely. They also know that Greenwood denied all allegations.

Outrage was quick to arrive. Marseille’s mayor, Benoit Payan, spoke for many when he said the transfer would cover the city in ‘shame’ and that it should be blocked.

Online, #GreenwoodNotWelcome and #GreenwoodWelcome were swiftly trending.

For many it was a transfer at odds with OM’s very ethos. Marseille’s supporters have often seen themselves as the holders of the high ground both morally and ethically. When Qatar took over at Paris Saint-Germain, great noise was made over how a Gulf State would never be permitted to seize control of OM. Rivals Lyon and Nice have traditionally been looked down on, amid allegations of racism amid their fanbases.

Many of those who follow Marseille view themselves as the good guys. In 2022 there was protest, online at least, over the move for Roma midfielder Jordan Veretout, briefly of Aston Villa. OM fans launched a hashtag #VeretoutNotWelcome on social media, based on a report that the player had paid the legal costs of his father-in-law, who had been accused of sexually assaulting one of his daughters - Veretout’s sister-in-law - and who was sentenced to two years in prison. The father-in-law’s lawyer repeatedly denied the claims that Veretout paid the legal fees.

In 2020, in the grim onset of the Covid pandemic, Marseille opened the doors of its training ground to victims of domestic abuse. A group of 18 women stayed at the complex, which was closed due to the suspension of the league. More than 40 rooms were turned around in less than a week, with the club providing cleaning, security, food and transport for free.

Lockdown saw a spike in instances of domestic violence, while more than 5,000 complaints were made in 2019 in the Bouches-du-Rhone department in which Marseille sits. It seems a long way from where we are now and that has not gone unnoticed elsewhere.

Supporters of other clubs, weary of Marseille’s elevated perception of itself, are now expected to take great pleasure from pointing out that, following the arrival of Greenwood, the club is perceived to have slipped from its self-declared ethical summit. The player was repeatedly booed in Brest and that noise will get louder. Expect banners making that point at stadiums across the country this season.

None of this is to say Marseille, who were taken over by Georgetown-educated US businessman Frank H. McCourt Jr. in 2016, did not do their homework.

The call to sign Greenwood was made by club president Pablo Longoria, who is from Oviedo, close to Getafe sporting director Ruben Reyes’ home city of Gijon. Reyes played for Oviedo for two years and the pair are known to be very tight. Longoria will likely have been given chapter and verse on Greenwood’s time on the fringes of the Spanish capital, both on and off the field.

However, the strength of the negative reaction is understood to have taken the club by surprise. Indeed, there is some scepticism over whether they had even commissioned a media strategy to deal with any blowback and to ensure that their message was heard above the noise.

Instead, it appears to have fallen to the president, and his often-stated line that everyone deserves a second chance. Longoria spoke at length to Greenwood and his partner ahead of his arrival, although his own probe was, unsurprisingly, not as exhaustive as the one United carried out after Greenwood was told he would have no legal case to answer.

There were discussions between the clubs on the player’s mindset and on how he had adapted to life in Spain. The view was that the player had matured and the wish of the family, according to those with knowledge of the situation, was to continue to play abroad, even though there was some interest from clubs in England.

Marseille pushed harder than anyone else. Some view Longoria as a man for whom performance on the football field is above all else. An initial payment short of £20million for a player of Greenwood’s talent and potential proved too enticing to resist.

In response, some Marseille fans returned tickets, while one bought a season ticket close to the directors’ box purely so that he could give the club’s hierarchy a piece of his mind. The early signs were troubling.

Perhaps in a move aimed at facilitating a soft landing, ahead of Greenwood’s unveiling a small number of journalists were invited to a conference call. Each was told they could ask three questions, with the stipulation that only one of those could be on his ‘past’. The answers were described as politician-like, with Greenwood referring the group back to the statement he made on social media when United announced he would be continuing his career away from the club.

In it, he protested his innocence but accepted he had ‘made mistakes’ and added that he intended to be a better footballer ‘but most importantly a good father, a better person, and to use my talents in a positive way on and off the pitch’.

At the main event 24 hours later, Greenwood’s father Andrew took a seat towards the front with a lawyer. His son again referred to his statement and gave fairly bland responses. The only time he showed any emotion, according to witnesses, was when he bluntly dismissed the prospect of playing for England again, something he has not done since making his debut against Iceland in Reykjvaik in September 2020.

The press conference was not a great success but it was not a disaster. There was a cringeworthy moment when a veteran former reporter, who helps out at the club, attempted to break the ice by telling the new arrival that in French his name was ‘vert bois’ (Green-wood). The comment drew only a perplexed glance and winces from those present.

One journalist, from local daily newspaper La Provence, tried on more than one occasion to grill the forward on that ‘past’ but was stopped by a press officer. The press conference was being streamed live and the reporter ended up being the target of harassment online by one-eyed fans who had more of an issue with him trying to do his job, rather than the player’s history.

According to insiders, Greenwood has enjoyed a warmer welcome in the dressing room. While it would be wrong to say many are in the same boat given the circumstances of his arrival, this is a new-look squad and plenty of others are finding their feet. There is no split and there are, as of yet, no cliques in the team.

Away from the cauldron of Marseille’s raucous 67,000-seat Stade Velodrome, the club’s players tend to head for the hills or down the coast and relative seclusion. Cassis, once home to Didier Deschamps, is popular, as is La Ciotat. Both are lush, Mediterranean-facing and boast numerous gated villas. They offer a quiet life a half-hour’s drive and a million miles from Marseille and the threat of car jackings and robberies. There is also no paparazzi to speak of.

There are other enticing factors for Greenwood. He has a manager in Roberto de Zerbi who really wanted him, said he would defend Greenwood as a ‘son’ and that strong performances on the pitch will ‘calm the controversies that surrounded his arrival’.

De Zerbi, who joined from Brighton this summer, is a man who also needs to win over the fanbase. The bar is not set high. Under Gennaro Gattuso, the last of three bosses in a tumultuous campaign, Marseille finished a lowly eighth last season, and a lack of European football this year will help their quest to ensure that does not happen again.

The aim is the top three but these are people who like to dream. PSG are not the PSG of old — there is no Kylian Mbappe, for a start — and some feel a title tilt may be on. That opening-day rout will have done little to dampen those expectations.

De Zerbi is viewed as a manager who takes risks and that makes some queasy. Brighton were viewed as reckless when they visited the Velodrome in last year’s Europa League, going 2-0 down in 20 minutes before salvaging a draw. Thomas Tuchel and Mauricio Pochettino introduced pragmatism after some sobering moments early in their tenures at PSG and De Zerbi may end up doing likewise.

Cutting in from both the right and the left, Greenwood got off to a flyer on debut, but this is a marathon and not a sprint. If he continues to impress and if there are no major off-field issues, his move will be deemed a success, especially if he then goes on to one of Europe’s superpowers for a much bigger fee.

If he struggles, then the fans will let both him and the president know. Former Arsenal and Chelsea striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored 30 goals in all competitions for Marseille last season, but in November, a spell of one in nine games saw him booed by large sections of the club’s support.

United will be among the interested parties also hoping this works out. Mail Sport understands that at least 30 per cent of any sell-on fee will head to Old Trafford. While the amount paid up front, £19.8m, may seem skinny, it comes with £6.7m worth of add-ons which include £3.4m guaranteed if the player stays at Marseille for three years.

United are not the only ones watching intently. Getafe, for whom Greenwood scored 10 goals in 36 games, also have a sell-on clause of around 20 per cent, which was built into the loan deal when they took the striker away from Manchester in the immediate aftermath of the Crown Prosecution Services’ decision to drop the case. They stand to net a further 20 per cent themselves.

There is a reason Getafe continuously punch above their weight, taking and keeping a place in La Liga despite having limited resources. Smart business is in their DNA.

Back at the Marseille club shop I asked one of those posing with the Greenwood mannequin if they were aware of his controversial past. While there may have been translation issues, the response was that he was simply a ‘great player’.

The stark reality of the matter is that, despite the noise, this is football. Football where, quite often, performance often trumps all else. If he continues to perform, then it appears that Greenwood’s footballing renaissance will continue in the south of France.