‘Time will judge’ – Marseille president Pablo Longoria on decision to sign Mason Greenwood | OneFootball

Olympique de Marseille president Pablo Longoria appeared on the Sports Business Podcast this week, during which made a rare appearance speaking English. For the first time in almost a year, the Spaniard revisited the signing of Mason Greenwood (24) when asked about his transfer strategy in recent years. “At that moment you have to think about the decision and what are the values of your club. We took a lot of information from all the clubs he played at and about what was the situation, and what had happened,” said the OM president on Greenwood, who finished last season level with Ousmane Dembélé for goals in Ligue 1. “At that time you are taking advantage of a situation in the market, because you know he is super talented and you are having this possibility from a circumstance that happened in the past,” added Longoria. “There was only one person who disagreed at the table.”Longoria then delved into his communication strategy on the signing. Greenwood joined the club from Manchester United in the Summer of 2024 in a deal worth up to 31.6m euros. Serious charges against him, including attempted rape and assault, were dropped in February 2023. Marseille mayor Benoît Payan came out against the signature, saying “I don’t want my club to be covered in shame because of someone who beats his wife.”“Sincerely for me it was very easy when you are convinced in all the communication strategies,” said Longoria, adding “you know you need a communications strategy so: let’s tell the truth. Let’s say why we take this decision but with transparency, explaining all the process, explaining why we arrived to take this decision. After that, time will judge and that will be, you know, today that it will put all along the things in this position.”The Englishman, who has now obtained a Jamaican passport and is eligible to play for the Caribbean nation, has scored three times so far this season for OM in Ligue 1 and the Champions League. GFFN | George Boxall