Lazio president Claudio Lotito has told Manchester United they are signing a striker ’10 times better than Mason Greenwood’.
The Serie A club attempted to sign Greenwood on loan in the final hours of the transfer window last summer but the move fell through as the paperwork was not completed in time.
Greenwood ended up joining Getafe on loan and delivered an impressive campaign as he was named as the club’s Player of the Season.
United have opted to sell Greenwood this summer but have been holding out for a £40 million transfer fee.
Lazio have offered a deal worth €20 million (£16.9m) plus a 50 per cent sell-on clause but that has been rejected by United.
Greenwood, who is in Manchester but will not join up with Erik ten Hag’s squad for their pre-season campaign, has also attracted interest from Marseille and it’s understood that the Ligue 1 club are now close to a deal.
Lazio now appear to be moving on from a deal for Greenwood, with Lotito claiming that they have a superior name on their striker shortlist.
‘Last year we were 20 minutes late due to a mismatch between the markets in Italy and England and so he fell through,’ Lotito said on Monday.
‘I had signed Greenwood last year but you didn’t even know who he was.
‘He fell through due to a mismatch of an hour between the two markets and the facts proved me right because he then did well.
‘But it’s not just Greenwood, there are also other players that you don’t even know. If I told you a name, which I won’t tell you because I want to keep you curious, that is worth 10 times more than Greenwood.’
Greenwood has not played for United since he was arrested in January 2022 for attempted rape, controlling behaviour and assault.
All charges against Greenwood were dropped in February 2023 and United had considered reintegrating him back into Ten Hag’s first-team squad before the Premier League club received major backlash over his potential return.
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