Mason Greenwood subject to abusive chants by Osasuna fans | OneFootball

Mason Greenwood was subject to abusive chants by Osasuna fans on Sunday with cries of “Greenwood, Die!” circling around the El Sadar Stadium.

The 22-year-old joined La Liga side Getafe on loan on the final day of the summer transfer window, following the decision by Manchester United to not reintegrate the forward into their senior squad.

Greenwood has not featured for United since he was arrested in January 2022 under suspicion of rape and assault. He was subsequently charged in October of the same year with attempted rape, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and controlling and coercive behaviour.

These charges were then dropped, however, in February 2023. The Crown Prosecution Service revealed: “A combination of the withdrawal of key witnesses and new material meant there was no longer a realistic prospect of conviction.”

Greenwood has always denied the charges.

An internal investigation was launched by the executive branch at Old Trafford when the case against the forward was completely withdrawn by the authorities. This took place over a six month period and was reported to have resulted in United deciding to allow Greenwood to rebuild his career at the club. This plan was leaked by The Athletic, leading to widespread condemnation across football and wider society.

United’s executives were then believed to have panickily reversed their initial decision, instead deciding Greenwood would depart Old Trafford to play elsewhere – a decision deemed the best option for both parties.

A loan deal was agreed with Getafe which saw a number of favourable clauses included for the Spanish side in light of the risk they were taking by accepting a player in Greenwood’s situation into their club.

The 22-year-old made his debut at the Estadio Coliseum in September, against Osasuna – last weekend’s opponents. The Osasuna fans directed a number of similarly abusive chants towards Greenwood in this game, which led to their club being fined by La Liga afterwards.

In the build-up to the reverse fixture at Osasuna’s stadium, the ultra wing of the club’s fandom – the Indar Gorri ultras – urged their fellow fans to publicly condemn Greenwood’s presence in their ground. They also released a public statement criticising the forward, as well as La Liga. The statement read:

“La Liga allows an arrestee accused of rape, grievous bodily harm and controlling and coercive behaviour to play in their competition. Once again, economic interests come ahead of the fight for a society without oppression. A RAPIST WILL PLAY IN OUR STADIUM ON SUNDAY.”

Osasuna would emerge late 3-2 winners from a fiercely contested game in which Getafe had come back from a two-nil deficit in the first half. A more detailed report on the game, including Greenwood’s performance, can be found here.

There is not thought to be any change at Old Trafford over the club’s intention for Greenwood to not play for United again. Instead, they will seek to sell the 22-year-old this summer, with a number of clubs across Spain thought to be interested in his services, including Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.

Incidents like the ones at El Sadar Stadium this weekend will have only reinforced the idea in United officials’ minds.