Claudio Lotito, president of Lazio, has suggested the Serie A club are on the verge of withdrawing from the race to sign Manchester United forward Mason Greenwood.
The Italian club, along with Roberto De Zerbi’s Marseille, have been heavily linked with the 22-year-old.
Charged in 2022, and later cleared, of criminal wrongdoing, Greenwood has failed to feature for Erik Ten Hag’s Red Devils since.
However, after enjoying a successful loan spell with Getafe last season, including scoring 10 goals in 36 games, the young forward is understandably attracting widespread interest from clubs in and around Europe.
Club president suggests Lazio withdraw from Mason Greenwood race
And according to recent reports, including this one from The Athletic’s David Ornstein, Greenwood recently held talks with United chiefs to understand his future.
Marseille have been the transfer saga’s firm favourites and even more so following Lotito’s recent comments.
“The deal to sign Mason Greenwood was close last year but then it collapsed at the final stages,” he said, as quoted by Fabrizio Romano.
“Now I’ve one more name on the list, I can’t share the name but he’s x10 times better than Greenwood.”
Likely to see his long-term future resolved in the coming days, United’s former number 11 will be hoping his next club offer him protection from the critical press as he attempts to continue his career revival — although this will certainly not be in the English Premier League.