Sport
Gary Neville takes aim at Manchester United over ‘horrible’ handling of Mason Greenwood situation
'I think it was clear from day one, for me or anyone who saw that evidence, that he wouldn't play for Manchester United again.'
Gary Neville has criticised Manchester United for their handling of the Mason Greenwood situation after they finally made the decision to transition him out of the club.
After months of speculation and rumours that he might be reintegrated into the squad following a raft of serious allegations, Man United confirmed on Monday that Greenwood will not remain at the club and they will be assisting his potential return to football elsewhere.
This comes after the 21-year-old was arrested on allegations of attempted rape, controlling and coercive behaviour, as well as carrying out assault occasioning actual bodily harm against his girlfriend in January 2022 following audio and photographic evidence being leaked on social media.
The charges were ultimately dropped back in February but swathes of football fans have been vocal in their opposition to his return ever since, including a large group of female supporters organising a protest on United’s opening game of the season. As a result, Neville has summed up the club’s handling of the whole situation as “pretty horrible”.
The former United and England fullback told Sky Sports during their Monday Night Football show, “I think it was clear from day one, for me or anyone who obviously saw that evidence that was initially released, that he wouldn’t play for Manchester United again.
“They have got there [in the end] but I would say that the process of getting there has been pretty horrible. When you have significant situations and difficult situations like this, it requires strong authoritative leadership — and that comes from the very top. Manchester United don’t have that.”
This comes just a few months after the 48-year-old had to quickly apologise after what he admitted was a “clumsy” tweet reminding people online that those under investigation “are innocent until PROVEN guilty”.
Sitting across from former WSL star Karen Carney, she added: “Personally I feel really uneasy with the situation. I think Manchester United, as an institution and a football club and what it stands for, have handled this really, really poorly.”
Read more:
There have also been calls for CEO Richard Arnold to resign after it was reported he told the key figures that Greenwood would be returning before ultimately making a U-turn following the immense backlash.
As for Greenwood himself, the young footballer has finally broken his silence on the whole scandal, writing in a statement that he “fully accepts I made mistakes in my relationship, and I take my share of responsibility for the situations which led to the social media post.”
However, the now exiled academy product still insisted he was “brought up to know that violence or abuse in any relationship is wrong” and “did not do the things [he was accused of”.
Nevertheless, he and the club have said that the decision to part ways is a mutual decision, with both agreeing that it is best for him to try and continue his career elsewhere so as not to be “a distraction for the club”.
For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.
Featured Image — Mason Greenwood (via Twitter)/Sky Sports
Sport
Academy graduate Oscar Bobb is leaving Manchester City on a permanent transfer
Danny Jones
Manchester City youth academy graduate Oscar Bobb is leaving the club after sealing a move to Fulham FC.
Despite plenty of loan interest throughout the January transfer window, the Man City attacker has secured a switch to the in-form West London team on a permanent basis.
Bobb looked increasingly likely to leave in some capacity following the arrival of another winger in the form of instant hit, Antoine Semenyo, but it now looks as though his departure is all but confirmed, bar an imminent official announcement.
As reported by Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, the agreement has now been reached between the two clubs pending a full medical today (Thursday, 29 January).
According to Romano, Fulham will pay Man City approximately £27 million for Bobb’s services, who becomes the latest addition in what has already been a fairly busy period of recruitment.
He goes on to add that “City also mantain [a] 20% sell-on clause, matching rights and future control on the player based on his decision.”
There is no suggestion of a buy-back clause at this time, but given his age and having already made a fair few appearances for Pep Guardiola‘s first team, it wouldn’t be beyond the realms of possibility to see him return to the club one day.
Bobb also arrives at Craven Cottage following the exit of multiple wingers and offensive options, including Adama Traore, ex-Man United product Andreas Pereira and Arsenal youngster, Reiss Nelson, whose loan deal has expired and has signed another temporary deal at local rivals, Brentford.
A similar scenario played out with James Trafford at the start of this season, though it now looks as though the young keeper could once again leave before the end of the month. Many City supporters understandably have some mixed feelings about both situations.
The young Norwegian winger joined the Etihad Campus back in 2023 and went on to contribute a handful of goals and assists, despite limited appearances and some very unfortunate injury issues.
Only seven months ago, his soon-to-be former parent club released a short video charting his return from the sidelines after fracturing his leg – a setback which kept him out for roughly five months.
Plenty of fans have quickly placed him in the so-called ‘what if?’ category of players, and given that he’s still just 22 years old and has already impressed on a number of ocassions for such a big club, we wouldn’t be surprised if he goes on to have a very exciting career.
Can you see the Blues bringing in or letting anyone else go before deadline day?
Read more:
For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.
Featured Images — pantkiewicz (via Flickr)/El Loko (via WikiCommons)/Man City (via YouTube)
Sport
Tyson Fury has officially revealed his comeback fight after coming out of ‘retirement’ once again
Danny Jones
Tyson Fury has officially announced the opponent for his comeback fight after yet again returning to professional boxing.
Fury supposedly ‘retired’ for seemingly the umpteenth time last January following his second defeat to Oleksandr Usyk the month prior, and some even believed it might have actually been his final outing.
Nevertheless, ‘The Gypsy King’ said he was coming out of retirement once more earlier this year, and now his next match-up has been confirmed.
Revealing the other contender as Aslanbek Makhmudo, the fight will be aired live on Netflix only.
Partnered exclusively with boxing magazine, Ring, the bout between Fury and Makhmudo is the latest big fight night to be picked up by the streaming giants.
The most recent example was, obviously, Anthony Joshua’s brutal knockout of influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul this past December.
Makhmudo, just a year younger than his opposite number, is a fellow experienced heavyweight based mainly out of Canada with a decent pedigree of his own.
The Russian, simply known as ‘The Lion’, has a record of 21 wins – more than half of those coming by KO.
With that in mind, he presents a potentially exciting prospect for the famous Manchester fighter, who hasn’t won a proper competitive fight since the defence of his WBC belt against Derek Chisora in December 2022.
Similarly, this should at least see two very well-seasoned pros going head to head.
He did fight MMA veteran Francis Ngannou in a one-off exhibition, but there was no title or anything tangible on the line.
In fact, even Fury himself admitted it was a “below par” showing.
Many fight fans would argue that there haven’t been enough proper big heavyweight dates since Fury vs Usyk, and even then, we are still yet to get a date for the all-but fully confirmed final fight of the trilogy.
Fury himself did state that the conclusion of their clash is scheduled for this April, but nothing official has been set in stone by any promotion or venue and the new date means it’s even less likely to be any time soon; meanwhile, plenty are still hoping for AJ vs Fury.
The 37-year-old will take on Makhmudo on Saturday, 11 April, and you can bet the world will be watching.
Read more:
For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.
Featured Images — FurociTV (via YouTube)/Netflix/Ring Magazine/@Mike_DiDomizio(via X)
