How Mason Greenwood could have ended up at Juventus in 2019

Manchester United starlet Mason Greenwood could have been lining up for Juventus had things turned out a little differently in 2019, at a time when the Serie A giants are thought to been offering him a lucrative pay day to leave his boyhood club and move to Italy.

Yorkshire-born Greenwood was recruited by United’s youth scouts when he was just six years old. He was training with the first-team by the time he was 16 and made his debut soon after at 17, going on to enjoy a phenomenal breakout season in 2019/20 when he scored 17 goals.

However, before then, Greenwood seemingly had Juventus flashing the cash at him.

The teenager was already well known to Juve scouts, having scored the pick of the goals
as United thrashed the Italian side in the UEFA Youth League in October 2018, beating three defenders and firing in with his weaker foot in the 4-1 win.

By the summer of 2019, with Greenwood having come off the bench in the Champions League during United’s famous comeback against Paris Saint-Germain and starting the final Premier League game of the season against Cardiff, Juve were prepared to make their offer.

United journalist and author Andy Mitten told The Athletic’s Talk of the Devils podcast that Juve put forward a proposal for the then 17-year-old that included ‘life-changing money’.

But rather than follow the cash abroad, Greenwood stayed loyal to United. He was included in the pre-season squad for the second summer in a row and began the 2019/20 as a first-team player.

Greenwood was primarily a substitute in the Premier League but was getting off the bench most games, while he was a starter in the Europa League and finished the group stage with four goals. The first of those, against Astana on matchday one, was his first official senior goal in United colours.

The teenager signed a new contract with United in October 2019, which the club has since improved with another long-term deal worth a reported £75,000 per week in February 2021.

Greenwood scored his first ever Premier League goal in a 3-3 draw against Sheffield United in December 2019 and came into his own in an rapidly improving United side during ‘Project Restart’ following the enforced season hiatus due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Greenwood finished the 2019/20 campaign with 10 Premier League goals to his name and a further seven in all competitions and has remained an important first-team plater in 2020/21, even sporting the iconic number 11 shirt worn for so long with such distinction by Ryan Giggs.

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