09 June 2023 , 18:09
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Simon Jordan believes Mason Greenwood should be sent out on loan next season.
The Manchester United forward has not played for the club since January 2022, after starting their 1-0 win over West Ham. Later that month, Greenwood was accused of assault against a woman. But in February of this year, the Crown Prosecution Service dropped all criminal charges against him, including attempted rape, controlling and coercive behaviour and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
United have been conducting an internal investigation against Greenwood - and that matter is still ongoing. But the Red Devils are set to speed up the process and make a decision on his future. The 21-year-old has been linked with a move on loan this summer, with clubs in Italy, Spain and Turkey reportedly interested.
Ex-Crystal Palace owner Jordan admitted that sending Greenwood out on loan would make the most sense. "It's a way of giving the player an opportunity to play football and to take him out of the inevitable spotlight," Jordan told talkSPORT.
"The tragedy for this boy is that it has all played out in the public domain before he was given the opportunity to have any sort of anonymity, i.e before you are in a position to be charged with something and then when you are charged then anonymity falls away.
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"He was arrested and we all got to hear the audio of some of the circumstances the allegations were built around. That's all fallen away and we can question the motivations about why it has fallen away and how we got ourselves into this situation.
"We've got a boy who has put himself in a way of, I don’t think, the greatest of behaviours listening to those audio tapes and I also don’t think the best of behaviours when he was away with England in Reykjavik. But we’ve got a very talented footballer. Often in football the talent supersedes the behaviour and I’ve never been one to suggest that’s right."
(PA)Erik ten Hag has not commented on the player's future at the club following February's developments: "I can't add nothing, I refer to the statement of the club." There is no timescale on how long United's investigation could take or what sort of outcome it could lead to.
Ten Hag was reported to have spoken to Greenwood for the first time after the charges against the forward were dropped, in which the player was said to have been informed that any decision over his future would be taken by the club and not the management team.
Greenwood remains suspended but is under contract at Old Trafford until the summer of 2025. He has scored 35 goals in 129 appearances for United having made his senior debut in the Champions League in March 2019, and won a single England cap in 2020.