MASON GREENWOOD ENGLAND RECALL CLAIMS PROMPT LEE CARSLEY TO DELIVER HONEST 23-WORD RESPONSE

Interim England coach Lee Carsley has delivered an honest reply to claims in-form Marseille forward Mason Greenwood could force his way back into the international set-up off the back of his brilliant start to life in Ligue 1.

The former Manchester United man was sold to Marseille over the summer for a £26.6m (€31.6m / $34.9m) after it was decided it would not be suitable for the 22-year-old to resume his career with the Premier League giants. And while the serious charges against him were ultimately dropped by the Crown Prosection Service, the wave of protests about keeping him at Old Trafford left the Red Devils with very little choice.

As a result, and after the player rebuilt his career during an excellent year in LaLiga with Getafe, United took the decision to sell the one-time capped England man to French side Marseille.

Since moving into Ligue 1, Greenwood has quickly illustrated that, based purely on his footballing ability, he is one of the best English talents around.

And having played a part in six goals (five goals and one assist) from just three games for Roberto De Zerbi’s side, plaudits have been coming thick and fast for Greenwood.

That form has raised claims that Greenwood could earn an England recall later this year.

He was overlooked for interim coach Carsley’s squad for this week’s Nations League games against Ireland (Saturday) and Finland (Tuesday).

But with matches to come against Greece (October 10) and Finland again (October 13) he has been tipped to force his way back in.

Capped once by his country back in September 2020, Greenwood has since been excluded from selection, first owing to an alleged breach of Covid guidelines and then while his career was put on hold following his arrest in January 2022.

Carsley drops simple 23-word message over Greenwood England recall

Back in August it came to light that Greenwood had filed paperwork with FIFA to switch international allegiances to Jamaica, with the Caribbean nation now coached by former United No 2, Steve McClaren.

Greenwood has applied for Citizenship with Jamaica as the first part of that process and could be capped by them before the end of the year if all goes to plan.

However, in an effort to scupper that, it’s been claimed England could bring him back into their fold.

But when when questioned about it, Carsley shut down those claims with a straight-to-the point 23-word reply at Friday’s press conference.

“Mason wasn’t a player that we can consider, to be honest, no. I’m aware of how he’s doing, but he wasn’t under consideration.”

However, another man who played for both England and Marseille with distinction is Chris Waddle and he feels Carsley would be wise to consider bringing the player back into the fold.

DON’T MISS: Man Utd planning major 2025 signing with ruthless Ratcliffe ready to show money-draining duo the door

“He’s a very good player,” Waddle told FlashScore. “He’s got the number 10 shirt and England seem to be producing a lot of good number 10s these days. He’s come out of the blocks very quick, started scoring goals from the off. The new England manager will be taking notice of this.

“We all know the French league is quite strong, but it’s not as strong as three or four other leagues in Europe now, you’ve got to take that into account. It is not as strong as the Premier League, La Liga or the Bundesliga. But all he can do is do what he’s doing in Marseille. Score goals and play well.”

2024-09-07T09:42:00Z dg43tfdfdgfd