Mason Greenwood has turned down a call-up for Jamaica national side as the former Manchester United player is “taking his time” over whether he wants to switch allegiances, according to Reggae Boyz manager Steve McClaren.
Yet to make the switch
Last summer, Greenwood had declared his intention to represent Jamaica with the feeling that his future within English football was over due to allegations of rape and assault in February 2022.
The 23-year-old forward was charged with these offences in October 2022. However, the case was then dropped in February 2023 by the Crown Prosecution service.
United had intended to reintegrate Greenwood into the first-team squad that summer – but this was met with fierce criticism across the country, quickly leading to a change in plan.
Instead, Greenwood spent the following season on loan at Spanish side Getafe, winning the club’s Player of the Season award, before a permanent switch to France was completed in the summer of 2024.
United struck a £26.7 million deal with Marseille which includes a 50% sell-on clause on the profits of any future transfer.
Greenwood returned 22 goals and six assists across 36 appearances in all competitions for Roberto De Zerbi’s side, helping propel them to an impressive second place finish in Ligue 1.
Jamaica, managed by former United coach Steve McClaren, were keen to add the forward to their ranks ahead of next summer’s World Cup in the United States.
But McClaren reveals Greenwood has, so far, turned down the offer to wear the Reggae Boyz shirt.
Focusing on club football
McClaren, who became Jamaica’s manager last summer, had hoped to “include Greenwood in his squad for World Cup qualifiers against Bermuda and Trinidad & Tobago,” The Sun reveals.
But the 64-year-old coach revealed Greenwood is not ready to “commit to an international team at the moment,” sparking rumours the 23-year-old may retain aspirations of playing for the Three Lions again, the report states.
McClaren said: “We acquired a passport and we expected him to be coming to this camp but in a conversation with his family, he’s not going to commit at this time to anybody.
“It’s a little bit disappointing, we probably have to be more patient. We will keep pursuing him because I know from my conversations with Mason that he loves Jamaica.
“He wants to concentrate on club football and not commit to an international team at the moment. He’s taking his time over that. Who knows in the future?”
“I get that he loves Jamaica, he respects Jamaica. As soon as that decision was made and he couldn’t commit, you move on. You don’t harp on it and don’t go, ‘What if this?’ or ‘what if that?’ — you move on and control what you can control.
“It’s a disappointment for everybody because he would have been a big asset and he would have come here and enjoyed his football.”
However, McClaren remains “hopeful” that Greenwood will change his mind in time for next month’s internationals against Curacao and Bermuda.
Featured image Juan Manuel Serrano Arce via Getty Images
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Darragh Fox
Darragh is a writer for The Peoples Person who spent three years as a history graduate slowly realising football was by far the most interesting thing to write about.
