GATE OPEN Gareth Southgate refuses to rule out controversial England return for Man Utd outcast Mason Greenwood

GARETH SOUTHGATE is not ruling out a possible England return for Mason Greenwood after this summer’s Euros.

A police investigation into the Manchester United forward was launched in January 2022.

Gareth Southgate has not ruled out an England return for Mason GreenwoodCredit: Reuters

The Three Lions boss is not thinking about Greenwood’s future ahead of the EurosCredit: PA
Charges of attempted rape, assault and controlling and coercive behaviour were later dropped.

Greenwood — whose one cap came in 2020 — has been rebuilding his career on loan in Spain.

And asked about the international situation for Greenwood, Three Lions chief Southgate said: “I don’t think it’s something for pre-Euros.

“Allowing him to get his career going again abroad appears to have been a good move. But I have not tracked it closely.

“At this moment it would be a big distraction for the team — let’s see where that leads next season.

“I would need to know more details about the whole thing before it was an option.”

Greenwood, 22, was loaned to Getafe last August. He has eight goals and five assists in 26 matches for the LaLiga side.

It remains to be seen whether United will look to sell Greenwood permanently in the summer, with a number of Spanish teams interested.

New United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe said last month: “We will make a decision. I don’t know if he (Greenwood) could still have a future.

“All I can do is talk about the principle of how we will approach decisions like that.

“Is he the right type of footballer? Are we happy with that? Is he a good person or not?

“He (Greenwood) is a Manchester United footballer and we are in charge of football.

“So the answer is it’s quite clear we have to make a decision.

“There is no decision that’s been made. He’s on loan obviously but he’s not the only one.

“We’ve got one or two footballers that we have to deal with and we have to make a decision on – so we will do that.

“The process will be – understand the facts not the hype and then try and come to a fair decision on the basis of values – which is basically whether he is a good guy or not.

“Could he play sincerely for Manchester United well and would we be comfortable with it and the fans be comfortable with it?

“I can talk about the principle. The principle is the important one because we will have other issues going forwards.

“You are dealing with young people who have not always been brought up in the best circumstances, who have a lot of money and don’t always have the guidance they should have.

“What we need to do when we have issues like that is to understand the real effects, not the hype.

“Then we need to make a fair decision in the light of the club’s values. That’s what we need to do and that’s how we will deal with it.”