Tottenham Rejects Mason Greenwood Amid Controversy
Tottenham’s new era under Roberto De Zerbi is gathering pace in the transfer market – but one name will not be part of it.
Club sources insist Tottenham Hotspur have no interest in signing Mason Greenwood from Olympique de Marseille, despite fresh links suggesting a Premier League return for the 24-year-old. The stance is firm: Greenwood will not be a Spurs player.
The forward, whose contract at the Orange Vélodrome runs until June 2029, comes off a prolific season in France. He made 45 appearances in all competitions, 32 of them under De Zerbi before the Italian left Marseille. In that spell he scored 22 goals and added eight assists, a level of end product that inevitably turned heads across Europe.
He stayed productive after De Zerbi’s departure too. In the remaining 13 games of the season, the Manchester United academy graduate contributed another four goals and three assists, underlining his value on the pitch.
But this story has never been only about football.
Greenwood had charges, including attempted rape and assault, dropped in February 2023. His move to Marseille and subsequent revival under De Zerbi brought the wider debate around his future in the game to the surface. De Zerbi himself had previously described Greenwood as a “good guy” who had paid a “heavy price”, stressing he did not want to get involved in the player’s private life.
“All I can see is that Mason seems a good lad; he paid in a strong way for what happened,” De Zerbi said at the time. “He has probably here found the right environment for him, which gave him affection, and held out its hand to him.
“When I look at him as a person, I feel sad for what happened in his life, without getting into the details. Because the person I know here is very different to the one that has been described, especially in England.”
Those remarks resurfaced the moment Tottenham moved to appoint De Zerbi as permanent successor to Igor Tudor, just two months after he had left Marseille. The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust responded with a strongly worded statement, saying his arrival “raises serious and far-reaching concerns” and underlining the strength of feeling among fans on issues of violence against women and the club’s values.
Spurs pressed ahead. De Zerbi signed a five-year contract and stepped into the job with the controversy already swirling around him.
He chose to address it head-on.
In his first interview with club media, De Zerbi apologised for his earlier comments and sought to clarify his position.
“I have never wanted to downplay the issue of violence against women or violence against anyone more broadly,” he said. “In my life, I have always stood up for who are more vulnerable, more fragile. I have consistently fought and taken a stand to be on the side of those who are more at risk.
“Those of you who know me well will know I'm not the type of person who makes compromises to win more games or to win an extra title. I apologise to those who I offended with this subject matter.
“I have a daughter, and I'm very sensitive to these things and always have been. I hope that over time, people will get to know me better and will understand that in that moment, I didn't mean to take a stance.”
The questions did not stop there. Ahead of his first game in charge of Tottenham, De Zerbi was pressed again on the issue and on how his words had been received.
“I was a bit sad and sorry it happened because I'm sorry if somebody took offence,” he said. “I must repeat what I said. This topic is very close to me. I'm very sensitive about this topic because of the person I am and because I have a daughter.
“And so I must repeat what I said the other time. I have always been against – always – any type of violence, especially against women. But not only violence, even just sexist jokes or other sexist behaviours.
“I have a daughter, and I'm directly affected by it. I know who I am. I know the type of person I am, so I wasn't annoyed by the questions – I'm just sad about them.”
Against that backdrop, Tottenham’s position on Greenwood carries extra weight. On pure football terms, a forward with 26 goals and 11 assists in a season under their new head coach might have been an obvious target. Instead, the club have made it clear they will not move for him.
De Zerbi’s rebuild in north London will be judged on results, style and silverware. It will also be watched closely for how club and coach navigate the line between elite performance and the principles Spurs say they stand for.
