Following months of uncertainty about his future in football, Mason Greenwood has been handed a lifeline after completing a loan move on deadline day to Spanish La Liga side Getafe on Monday.
Greenwood spoke out for the first time after spending over a year out of the game following his arrest in January 2022.
He was arrested for charges of suspicion of rape, assault, controlling and coercive behaviour towards his girlfriend.
Upon his arrival, the 21-year-old expressed his excitement of joining the club, saying he cannot wait to get started.
“Hi Getafe fans, it’s Mason here. I’m so happy to be here and I can’t wait to get started,” Greenwood said after being presented as a Getafe player.
👋🏻 𝗛𝗢𝗟𝗔, 𝗔𝗭𝗨𝗟𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗦!
🫶 @masongreenwood 💙 pic.twitter.com/6LQozQA6xc
— Getafe C.F. (@GetafeCF) September 4, 2023
His sensational return to the game has, however, not been well-received, drawing mixed emotions from football lovers across the world.
The 21-year-old came under the spotlight after images, a video, and an audio clip of him threatening and abusing a woman went viral on social media.
He was due to stand trial in November but all the charges were dropped in February.
Getafe coach Jose Bordalas also weighed in on the matter, saying the club will help revive the career of the England international.
“It is too delicate a situation to trivialise this issue,” he said after their 2-1 defeat to Real Madrid at the weekend.
“Everybody knows what happened, the appropriate measures were taken.
“Obviously we can only talk about football, about other issues, I think, that the people and the relevant systems did what they had to do, and everybody knows how it ended – without a condemnatory sentence.
“Therefore, [he is] a free person, a footballer of the highest level who comes to Getafe with enormous hope. We are going to help him to recover his best level.”
Greenwood will spend the entire season at the Madrid-based side and has been handed jersey number 12.
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa.
