Greenwood ´making a difference´ for ambitious Marseille, says Longoria

Mason Greenwood is “making a difference” for Roberto De Zerbi’s Marseille amid their strong start to the Ligue 1 season, says the club’s chief executive, Pablo Longoria.

Greenwood joined Marseille on a permanent deal from Manchester United in July, having spent the 2023-24 season on loan at Getafe.

Greenwood had not appeared for United since he was arrested and suspended by the club in January 2022. The forward was later charged with attempted rape and assault, which he denied, with the charges dropped in early 2023 following the withdrawal of key witnesses.

He has scored five times in his first three Ligue 1 appearances for Marseille, becoming just the second player to achieve that feat in the last 50 seasons of the French top flight, after Nice’s Mario Balotelli in 2016.

He scored an 81-second brace in the first half of a 3-1 win at Toulouse prior to the international break, lifting Marseille to seven points from their first three games.

While Marseille’s move for the 22-year-old drew criticism from many onlookers, Longoria has been impressed by his impact on the pitch.

Speaking at the Thinking Football Summit organised by Liga Portugal, Longoria told Stats Perform: “He’s a great player. He’s making a difference.

“If you’re asking all the players, all the people that are in the day-to-day with the team, they can tell you that his level is amazing and we are really happy having him.

“We are really happy about the start of the season he is doing and the behaviour he’s having with us in Marseille.”

5 – Mason Greenwood is only the second player to score five goals in his first three appearances in Ligue 1 over the last 50 seasons after Mario Balotelli with Nice in 2016. Rare. #TFCOM pic.twitter.com/YNCwyx2r5i

— OptaJean (@OptaJean) August 31, 2024

Marseille pulled off what many saw as a coup to appoint De Zerbi as their new head coach ahead of this season, following his surprise exit from Brighton.

Longoria believes the Italian has been a seamless fit at the Stade Velodrome, saying: “What I appreciated was the firmness of Roberto de Zerbi in all the conversations and the connection that he has created with us since the first day.

“This is the biggest satisfaction that I can say, and I’m very thankful to the coach for how he’s adapting himself to the project.”

Marseille are currently second in the Ligue 1 standings, two points behind champions Paris Saint-Germain, who lost Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid ahead of the new campaign.

While Longoria believes Marseille’s project is one for the medium-to-long term, he refuses to put a limit on their ambitions for 2024-25.

“They are having a great start to the season as well, to be honest. Our objective is to build a project over three years. That is the number one,” he said of PSG.

“Second, we are really happy with how we started this season. Our goal has to be in the Champions League and improve our level.

“After that, let’s see what the competition will put on us. We need to be ambitious, but at the same time, we need to be realistic as well. I’m not saying that we cannot compete.

“I’m asking for a bit of patience because this is a three-year project, and we really want to improve each day, each week, and each game day. We need to improve our level.”

Looking forward to seeing you on