Manchester United have reiterated that Mason Greenwood will not train with or play for the club until further notice despite being released on bail.
The 20-year-old was arrested over the alleged rape and assault of a young woman on Sunday after images and videos were posted online.
While Greenwood was still in custody, he was further arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of sexual assault and threats to kill.
Greater Manchester Police have not named the footballer but said on Wednesday: “A 20-year-old man arrested on Sunday, January 30, 2022 on suspicion of the rape and assault of a woman has been released on bail pending further investigation.”
Within hours of the allegations appearing on Sunday morning, United announced the England international was suspended from playing or training with them.
The Old Trafford club reiterated that stance on Thursday morning, saying the situation remains unchanged despite Greenwood being released on bail.
Interim United manager Ralf Rangnick faced the media for the first time since the arrest a couple of hours later in a press conference nominally previewing Friday’s FA Cup tie against Middlesbrough.
The club press officer said before it got under way: “We will not be taking any questions on Mason Greenwood whilst there’s a police investigation going on.”
While there was no direct questions on the allegations or arrest, Rangnick was asked if the backdrop had impacted United’s preparations to face Boro.
“Well, in fact, we had a good and normal week of training, with five training sessions, including today’s training,” the German said.
“Obviously, I suppose, it was a topic within the team but they’re all human beings and Mason was part of the group until before we had our break.
“But, as I said, it was a good week of training. We could train under normal circumstances and we are looking forward to the game tomorrow.”
Rangnick also said Greenwood’s arrest and suspension by the club played a role in the decision to keep Jesse Lingard, who wanted to leave before the end of the transfer window.
“In a way (it was a factor), yes, but in the end the club also told me, the board told me, they couldn’t find an agreement with any of those clubs that were interested in him,” the German said.
“With the window closing Monday evening, in the afternoon the board informed me they would rather want him to stay. For me, that was a decision that I could fully understand and accept.
“So, it was two things. One thing was obviously that we had a problem with Mason Greenwood and being without a player for the time being that has played regularly in the last couple of weeks.
“And on the other hand, the club couldn’t find an agreement with any other club.”
Meanwhile, United have confirmed that fans can exchange a shirt with ‘Greenwood’ on the back for a replacement with a different player’s name on it.
An email to online shoppers read: “We can confirm that United Direct and adidas customers who purchased a Manchester United shirt that was personalised with Greenwood’s name and number have the opportunity to exchange it for this season’s home shirt personalised with another player’s name without charge.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel