"This is not a consultation" - Manchester United COO and head of fan engagement comment on Mason Greenwood investigation amid fans outrage

Manchester United's chief operating officer Collette Roche has given an update on Mason Greenwood's potential return to the club.

Greenwood, 21, has been suspended by the Red Devils since he was arrested in January 2022. He was charged with attempted rape, controlling behaviour and assault.

However, those charges were dropped earlier this year by the Crown Prosecution Service, and Manchester United then undertook their own internal investigation. The Englishman's potential return to the club has drawn heavy backlash from fans.

Roche has now explained to The Athletic the process of the investigation. She says the club have gone beyond the police's investigation:

"We’ve done a really detailed and thorough internal investigation and we’ve asked as many people as we can around what happened and try to understand it beyond the original investigation done by the police."

She added that the decision is down to Manchester United regarding the player's return:

“You’d expect us to engage with people who were relevant in terms of stakeholder groups. And now we just need to make the decision. That decision is firmly a decision that’s on us.”

However, the Red Devils' head of fan engagement Rick McGagh made it clear that consulting the fans' advisory board hasn't been part of the investigation:

"It’s not accurate to say we’ve had full consultation with the fan advisory board on what decision we’re making. This is not a consultation.”

It's reported that Manchester United wanted to make an announcement regarding Greenwood ahead of the new season.

That hasn't happened, and his future at the club remains in limbo. The decision eventually rests with chief executive Richard Arnold, as owner Joel Glazer has delegated the decision to him. However, he will still need to sign it off.

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Manchester United could delay Greenwood decision till after September international break

Erik ten Hag is open to the Englishman's return.

According to the aforementioned source, Manchester United may look to delay their decision over Greenwood till after the September international break.

That comes as a result of some partial online abuse that has wrongly targeted England women players just ahead of the 2023 FIFA World Cup quarterfinal.

Red Devils boss Erik ten Hag is reportedly open to the young attacker returning to his squad. The Dutch tactician added one forward to his squad this summer - Rasmus Hojlund.

Greenwood was growing into one of England's most exciting forwards before his arrest. He managed 35 goals and 12 assists in 129 games across competitions.