'Not in our thoughts': England not considering Mason Greenwood return, insists Thomas Tuchel | OneFootball

Marseille forward yet to complete proposed switch of international allegiance to Jamaica under Steve McClaren

The 21-year-old also qualifies to play for Jamaica through his grandfather and has obtained a passport ahead of a potential switch of international allegiance.

However, Jamaica head coach Steve McClaren was left disappointed by not being able to call him up for World Cup qualifiers this month.

That is because Greenwood must first pen a letter confirming that he understands that a change of allegiance to Jamaica is final and would forbid him from representing England again. He has yet to take that step.

Manchester United academy graduate Greenwood scored 21 goals and registered six assists in Ligue 1 last term.

In January 2022, he was arrested over allegations of attempted rape, assault and coercive behaviour. He denied the charges. They were dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service a year later.

“We acquired a passport and we expected him to be coming to this camp, but in a conversation with his family, he’s not going to commit at this time to anybody,” former England boss McClaren said this week.

“It’s a little bit disappointing, we probably have to be more patient. We will keep pursuing him because I know from my conversations with Mason that he loves Jamaica.

“He wants to concentrate on club football and not commit to an international team at the moment. He’s taking his time over that. Who knows in the future?

“I get that he loves Jamaica, he respects Jamaica. As soon as that decision was made and he couldn’t commit, you move on. You don’t harp on it and don’t go, ‘What if this?’ or ‘what if that?’ — you move on and control what you can control.”

Tuchel has now explained his thinking on a potential return to the England fold for Greenwood.

“I have not spoken to him until now,” he said. “I have not spoken to him or his camp.

“My understanding was that he tries to play for Jamaica, so we didn’t give it another thought.

England face Andorra on Saturday at Villa Park before flying to Belgrade to meet Serbia in another World Cup qualifier on Tuesday night.