After a long and turbulent trial to prove his innocence, Mason Greenwood no longer faces criminal charges for attempted rape and sexual assault. However, the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) stressed that they discontinued the prosecution in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors, with the case placed under continuous review. Following the CPS lead, we will hold back from touching the subject longer but focus instead on which United player will inherit his forgotten number 11 shirt. However, if you want to know more about the Mason Greenwood case, click here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JS3j8ZMh8JY
Mason Greenwood Leaves Manchester United on Mutual Agreement
Despite Mason Greenwood having his charges dropped, he has to seek a future outside Manchester United as the pairing mutually agreed to part ways. The Red Devils posted on their official statement on their website stating that: “Mason recognises the difficulties with him recommencing his career at Manchester United. Therefore, we mutually agree that it would be most appropriate for him to do so away from Old Trafford, and we will now work with Mason to achieve that outcome.”
Mason Greenwood responded in kind with his own statement published by United on their website clarifying: “The decision has been part of a collaborative process between Manchester United, my family and me. The best decision for us all is for me to continue my football career away from Old Trafford, where my presence will not distract the club. I thank the club for their support since I joined when I was seven. There will always be a part of me which is United.”
Mason Greenwood statement: “I want to start by saying I understand that people will judge me because of what they have seen and heard on social media, and I know people will think the worst.
I was brought up to know that violence or abuse in any relationship is wrong, I did not… pic.twitter.com/ODAPixFOvc
— utdreport (@utdreport) August 21, 2023
4 Manchester United Players That Could Inherit the Number 11 Shirt From Mason Greenwood
1. Rasmus Højlund
The most blatant and obvious choice to inherit the number 11 Shirt from Mason Greenwood is United’s new signing, Rasmus Højlund. Despite reports from Fabrizio Romano stating that Højlund will inherit the number 17 shirt from Fred after his imminent departure, we can see the likelihood of him choosing the number 11 shirt instead.
To cast your minds back on why Højlund is the prime option, he posted with a plain shirt at Old Trafford when the club first revealed him to the fans with the absence of a proper shirt number. Thus, it is very likely that Højlund will inherit the number 11 shirt from Mason Greenwood as he also wears the same number 11 shirt during his duties for his national team, Denmark. While we can be way off from our prediction, we just cannot foresee United not giving him the unowned shirt number instead of reprinting the numbers on other players.
2. Antony
Despite scoring in his debut against Manchester City, the United fans often turn to criticise Antony for his theatrics on the pitch. However, Antony is still slowly adapting to life in the Prem, and if he displays what he shows on the training ground, he is highly likely to inherit the number 11 shirt instead of the current number 21.
According to Tom Heaton, Antony is a menace in training and has one of the best left feet at the club, along with Luke Shaw. Furthermore, he also stated that Antony has the ability to make someone look silly: “He is the sort of player who will sit you down, keep dribbling around you and make you look a little bit silly at times, so you have to keep an eye on those tricky ones!” While players are not generally allowed to change their number during a season, we can see him inherit the number 11 shirt next season.
At 22 years and 192 days, Antony became the youngest Brazilian to score on his #PL debut, as well as becoming the 100th Brazilian to play in the competition 🇧🇷#MUNARS | @ManUtd pic.twitter.com/CFakDCJ6u1
— Premier League (@premierleague) September 4, 2022
3. Jadon Sancho
A Player Manchester United could turn towards handling the number 11 shirt is Jadon Sancho. Despite not having the best start to his United career, Erik ten Hag highly rates him and includes him as a fundamental part of his project to bring United forward.
Compared to Antony, Sancho seems likelier as it is a straight swap of Englishmen for Englishmen, and number 25 is not his priority pick when joining United. Furthermore, Sancho inheriting the shirt number seems reasonable as he shares similarities with Ryan Giggs. Giggs did not have a great early career at United, as Ferguson experimented with playing him in different positions. Sancho is suffering a similar case under Ten Hag, and we think Sancho will blossom in his new shirt once the dust settles.
🔴 Nicolas Pépé at Arsenal:
112 games // 27 goals // 21 assists🔴 Sancho & Antony at #MUFC:
127 games // 20 goals // 9 assists“Look at Pepe’s stats compared to them… you called him the biggest flop!”
Darren Bent’s shares some stats on Antony & Sancho at Man United 👀 pic.twitter.com/GYtemMytGF
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) August 23, 2023
4. Alejandro Garnacho
Following up on our list of likely players to inherit the number 11 shirt from Mason Greenwood, we have Alejandro Garnacho. In the current era, the number 11 shirt is synonymous with world-class wingers like Marco Reus, Mohamed Salah and Gareth Bale. However, there is one winger who is often underrated by many, which is his Argentinian compatriot, Ángel Di María.
Despite what he achieved in football, many fans overlooked Ángel Di María for more known names such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappé during his time for club and country. Garnacho is on a similar boat as him as the focus of United is either on Marcus Rashford or Bruno Fernandes. Thus, it is perfectly reasonable for Garnacho to inherit the number 11 shirt and play as a player who always shows up in big matches. While he much prefers the number While he much prefers the number 7, which Mason Mouth took and is performing poorly in, the likelihood is dim unless he steps up immaculately this season.
Our Final Say
While it is hard to pinpoint who exactly will inherit the number 11 shirt from Mason Greenwood, we are sure that it will be someone worthy of it. Although it is bittersweet to bid goodbye to Mason Greenwood, we wish him the best of luck at his new club. For more sport-related news, click here and stay tuned for future updates regarding your favourite players and teams.
