Inside Greenwood’s ‘inevitable’ Marseille exit: ‘Exhausting’ star ‘ignoring’ manager; insisting ‘English spoken’ | OneFootball

Marseille are ‘exhausted’ with Mason Greenwood and his ‘I-don’t-care behaviour’ as the former Manchester United star ‘ignores instructions’ in training and ‘argues that everyone speaks English’ in the dressing room.

Greenwood has 47 goals and 16 assists in 79 appearances for Marseille after moving to the Ligue 1 giants in the summer of 2024 when boyhood club United decided they had to break ties with the forward.

The 24-year-old was charged with attempted rape, controlling and coercive behaviour and assault occasioning bodily harm towards the same woman in 2022. He denied all wrongdoing and the charges were dropped in February 2023.

Greenwood has proven to be a stellar signing on the basis of his performances, but as detailed in a fresh report from L’Equipe, a damaging influence off the field.

Robert De Zerbi brought Greenwood to Marseille and had his fair share of issues with the ‘individualistic’ striker and his ‘I-don’t-care behaviours’, with the report explaining how he would ‘dismiss him from training sessions’ and ‘imposed additional physical work on him’.

But the now Tottenham boss is said to have ‘coaxed him a lot’ and there was certainly plenty of public praise alongside the occasional criticism.

New manager Habib Beye doesn’t appear to have won the same respect of the ‘soloist’, with the report explaining how Greenwood ‘ignored his instructions’ in training this week.

‘The fracture’ with Greenwood ‘opened’ in the summer when he ‘attracted the wrath of Mehdi Benatia’, Marseille’s sporting director, for ‘shunning a marketing operation with the club’s equipment manufacturer’.

Benatia is ‘exhausted by his behaviour’ and at one point stood at the side of training with fellow executives and ‘invited players to shake their teammate’.

Greenwood is said to have had several ‘clashes’ with teammates in training, not least former Southampton and Tottenham midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, though ‘they never reached the point of unprecedented violence’.

The ex-Red Devil is ‘reluctant to go to French classes imposed by the club’ and has ‘missed several sessions’ while ‘arguing that everyone spoke English in the locker room’.

The report adds:

Greenwood has ‘remained in his own little world’ while feeling as though he’s being ‘watched for trifles’.

Greenwood has refused to partake in ‘five steps of care’ including massages and cold baths that are ‘noted in notebooks by staff members’, while Marseille ‘guards’ are ordered ‘not to let deliverymen pass’, called by Greenwood to drop off food orders.

Benatia and Greenwood now ‘ignore each other superbly on a daily basis’ and both wait for what is now thought to be his ‘inevitable’ departure.

Manchester United had been due 50 per cent of any transfer from Marseille, though it’s now thought that percentage may have dropped to 40 and could reduce further based on additional ownership rights being transferred to Marseille.

‘That will not necessarily make things easier’ for Marseille to land a greater fee for the forward though as his ‘rating has dropped over his inconsistencies while the doors of the Premier League are still closed to him’.