For Manchester United this summer looks likely to see the sale of Mason Greenwood, here’s why that is a smart move according to data.
For Mason Greenwood, a season on loan with Getafe has done a world of good for his footballing career which seemed finished 12 months ago.
The Manchester United forward has eight goals and six assists in 29 games in La Liga this campaign which has sparked a race for his signature this summer, despite a contract extension.
A return to Old Trafford has been ruled out, while interest is mounting from Atletico Madrid, Juventus and various other clubs including two Premier League sides according to reports.
While getting rid has long been the preference of the fanbase, his on-field performances have now shown that if he were to return, he’d leave fans frustrated.
Mason Greenwood’s defensive work rate is horrendous
If there is one thing Marcus Rashford has been slammed for this season, it’s his work rate and defensive contributions which has left fans infuriated at times.
But in comparison to some players across Europe, Rashford isn’t all too bad and now it’s been revealed through a study by CIES that Greenwood is the worst defensive forward in the top five leagues with a score of 2.8.
From this study, we can see that by 2.3 points, Greenwood is the laziest forward across the top five leagues in Europe, which wouldn’t go down well with the United fanbase.
For all his talent on the ball, this just shows that he wouldn’t function on the wing for United and the fans would quickly be frustrated by this.
CIES worked out the defensive work index using out-of-possession high-speed distance and pressing duels stats.
All this being said, Greenwood keeps good company with two of Europe’s most lethal goalscorers in the top three with him – Romelu Lukaku and Kylian Mbappe – albeit he is far lower than both.
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Manchester United return shouldn’t even be a thought for Greenwood
While part of him will have always wanted to return to his boyhood club, there is nothing in favour of this being the move.
For a start, the backlash upon the rumour of his return last summer was a telling enough sign that he wouldn’t be accepted back at United.
To learn of his poor displays off the ball, however, just adds to the list of reasons he shouldn’t return with this one being football-based.
He simply wouldn’t get away with it in the Premier League and no manager would stand for it so he’d be straight out of the team and there’d be little love from the fans as Rashford is seeing right now – even though he’s far better in defensive actions.