Getafe believes Manchester United have activated an extension in Mason Greenwood’s contract to make their negotiating position stronger this summer, as per reports.
The 22-year-old has not played for the Red Devils since January 2022 after being arrested for attempted rape, controlling behaviour and assault.
All charges were dropped at the start of last year and, following a lengthy internal investigation, United were considering reintegrating him into the squad but were forced into a rethink following a major backlash.
He moved to Spain instead on deadline day last summer and has started to revive his career, scoring six times and providing five assists in 25 appearances on loan for Getafe in La Liga.
Greenwood’s good form has caught the attention of several European clubs, with Atletico Madrid and Barcelona both thought to be interested, while Italian giants Juventus have also been linked with a move.
United were expected to sell him this summer largely because of Greenwood’s uncertain contract situation, with his existing deal set to expire in the summer of 2025.
If he were to stay beyond this summer, United would risk losing him for nothing in a year’s time, with the forward able to talk to foreign clubs about a possible free transfer from January.
As with most of their contracts, United included a clause in Greenwood’s deal that allows them to automatically activate a one-year extension that keeps him at the club until 2026.
There was thought to be some degree of concern over the optics of extending Greenwood’s deal considering the previous backlash, but now The Athletic are reporting that it may already have happened.
At Getafe, there is a belief that the contract clause has already been activated with the Spanish club coming away from talks with United chiefs with the understanding that Greenwood’s deal will run until 2026.
United insist no such decision has been taken yet, while they are in no rush to activate the option given they can do it at any point up to May 2025. While they are under no obligation to do so, the club would generally announce if the contract extension had been activated – or at least inform the media.
There are suggestions that it may be in Getafe’s interests for rival clubs to assume that Greenwood still has two years left on his contract, as it both increases their chances of keeping him on loan next season and raises the price United can expect to receive.
That latter point is an important one, with the terms of Greenwood’s loan meaning Getafe are entitled to 20 per cent of any sale.
The final decision on whether to activate Greenwood’s extension will rest with new minority owners Ineos, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe saying earlier this year: ‘We will make a decision, correct.
‘All I can do is talk about the principle of how we will approach decisions like that. Is he the right type of footballer, are we happy with if he is a good person or not?
'He's a footballer for Manchester United, so we are responsible for football.
'So the answer is, 'yes, we have to make choices'. It's very clear that we have to make a choice. No choice has been made. He's on loan, but he's not the only one. We have a few footballers that we need to handle and make a decision about, so we will do that.
'The process will be: understand the facts, not the excitement, and then try to make a fair decision based on values, which basically means is he a good person or not?
'Could he play genuinely for Manchester United, would we be okay with it and would the fans be okay with it?'
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