Greenwood was absent from United’s win over Everton due to illness
Bruno Fernandes was left exasperated by the performance of Mason Greenwood during a recent training session, a report has claimed.
The teenage forward scored with impressive regularity after bursting into the Manchester United first team last season, but was left out of the weekend victory over Everton at Goodison Park.
While Ole Gunnar Solskjaer claimed his omission was down to illness, Paul Hirst writes in The Times that Greenwood had performed poorly in training on Friday, with Fernandes frustrated at his failure to run on to a pass. The report adds that there was no argument between the two players, but that concerns over the youngster’s application in training sessions are growing.
After being called up to the senior England squad in September, Greenwood and Manchester City’s Phil Foden were sent home early for breaching strict Covid-19 protocol by inviting two women to their hotel rooms in Iceland. Since then, Solskjaer has denied reports that Greenwood had been warned by the club over his discipline, with his time-keeping said to have been a particular issue.
“Mason made a mistake this summer with England and suddenly the whole English press go after him,” the United manager had said.
“I have to disappoint you, he is never late for training. He is never a problem when he is on the training ground. He is always on time. I have seen the stories and some ex-United players talking about him and they don’t know what they are talking about.
“We have photographers outside the training ground every day, they can see he is on time every day. I don’t know where these stories have come from.
“He has a good family behind him. He has had a good background in the academy. He is a good trainer. He trains really well. I cannot believe all these stories about him not being professional.”
Greenwood has not been called up to either the England senior or Under 21 squad for this month’s international break, with Solskjaer and Gareth Southgate reaching a mutual agreement that it was best to leave the forward with his club.
