Ornstein: Mason Greenwood was among players reporting at Carrington today for meeting with United chiefs

Manchester United welcomed their first cohort of players back for pre-season this morning as they get preparations underway for 2024/2025.

The likes of Kobbie Mainoo, Luke Shaw, Facundo Pellistri, Alejandro Garnacho and Lisandro Martinez are still involved with their nations at Euro 2024 and Copa America respectively, while those who recently exited international tournaments – such as Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot – will be given a longer break to rest and recover.

There had been question marks surrounding Mason Greenwood’s involvement in training this summer, given that his loan spell with Getafe has ended and he is, therefore, a United player heading into the pre-season fixtures.

He was pictured in Manchester over the weekend keeping his fitness levels up with his father and ex-teammate Shola Shoretire after returning from Madrid, where he’s spent the last 10 months.

However, he will not play any role in the Erik ten Hag’s squad over the coming weeks – as will be the case heading into the new season. United are actively working on his exit and have held talks with a host of interested clubs, more recently Lazio and Olympique Marseille, the latter of which submitted their opening bid for the forward today.

David Ornstein has since confirmed that the 22-year-old was among the players reporting to the training complex on Monday, yet he was away from the rest of the first team and instead held a short meeting with club chiefs to discuss his prospective departure. Greenwood left Carrington after the ‘constructive dialogue’ had concluded.

Read more: After Zirkzee & De Ligt – Romano says there’s a ‘big possibility’ United could pursue Euros semi-finalist

Greenwood to leave United two-and-a-half years after his final appearance

The academy graduate’s final outing as a Red was on January 22, 2022. Eight days later, he was arrested on suspicion of rape and assault before being charged with attempted rape, controlling and coercive behaviour and assault occasioning actual bodily harm in October 2022.

These charges were subsequently dropped in January 2023, but the sensitivity of the situation – understandably – made United fans hesitant to welcome him back at Old Trafford.