Manchester United said Wednesday that while the club are in the final stages of deciding whether or not to reintegrate Mason Greenwood into the first team, a final decision has not been made and that the choice rests with CEO Richard Arnold.
Greenwood was arrested in January 2022 after images and audio were posted on social media that allege the forward sexually assaulted a woman. He was subsequently charged with attempted rape, controlling and coercive behavior and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. The Crown Prosecution Service dropped the charges in February 2023 after a withdrawal of key witnesses meant there was "no longer a realistic prospect of conviction."
United said the club has conducted an investigation into the allegations since the charges were dropped, and has looked at "extensive evidence and context not in the public domain, and [has] heard from numerous people with direct involvement or knowledge of the case." The club issued no further specifics but said the "fact-finding phase" of the investigation was complete.
The club's statement came after The Athletic reported on Wednesday that United planned to welcome Greenwood back into the first team. Arnold reportedly told the club's executive staff in the first week of August of the decision and was going to record a video with an explanation that would have been shared with the public on Aug. 4. There was no word on why the plan was scrapped.
The Athletic also previously reported that United's internal investigation included meetings with Greenwood at the club's Carrington training ground, and that manager Erik ten Hag and director of football John Murtough support the player's return.
The article comes days after The Guardian reported that United want to run the decision by members of the women's team, and will wait until Mary Earps, Ella Toone, and Katie Zelem return from the Women's World Cup to do so. The Athletic said that players' social media accounts, as well as those of United's women's team, were flooded with comments from fans asking them to approve Greenwood's return. The Athletic also reported that players saw the comments and that "some of the posts were more menacing and threatening, to the extent one agent has considered enlisting cybersecurity support for his client."
The impending decision around Greenwood also followed United ahead of the men's team's first game of the season against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday. A group called Female Fans Against Greenwood's Return issued a statement on Friday demanding that United show "a zero tolerance approach towards acts of violence against women," and fans arrived at the match with banners echoing similar sentiments.
