Kieran Maguire shreds Man United ‘leaks’ after Mason Greenwood U-turn
Man United loaned Mason Greenwood this summer as the Glazers will not want to lose ‘a piece of valuable inventory’ for free.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about United’s poor handling of Greenwood’s situation and the economic reasoning behind his loan move.
The 21-year-old completed a loan move to Spanish side Getafe on deadline day just days after the Red Devils released a statement revealing that he would not represent the club this season.
However, The Athletic reported that United CEO Richard Arnold informed staff at Old Trafford that the club initially planned to bring Greenwood back into the squad before facing public backlash.
Maguire insists the Manchester club handled the matter poorly by leaking information through the press and believes United are trying to protect the sell-on value of Greenwood by loaning him out this season.
“By loaning Greenwood out for 12 months, it gives Manchester United the opportunity to retrench,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“I think it’s universally been accepted that they’ve handled the matter very poorly in the sense that there have been leaks indirectly to the press that he was going to come back.
“There was a lot of pushback from fans, from pundits, and from people who are connected to women’s domestic violence groups.
“I think they realised quickly that it wasn’t achievable.
“By having him not train with the club but giving him the opportunity to demonstrate his talents on a football pitch away from the glare of Manchester United, it does give them a potential opportunity to sell him next summer.
“Whether they will be in a position to do that will depend upon his behaviour on and off the pitch.
“From the Glazers’ point of view, he’s a piece of valuable inventory and they don’t want to lose him for nothing.
“The internal report appeared to find no evidence to support the original allegations, which does seem strange given that one of the key witnesses didn’t talk to the Manchester United internal investigators, but it meant that they couldn’t sack him for gross misconduct.
“So therefore he is entitled to receive his salary for the remaining two years of his contract.“
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