Jamaica has opened the door to Mason Greenwood resurrecting his international career, three years after the forward was capped by England.
Greenwood appeared for the Three Lions senior side in September 2020’s clash with Iceland in the Nations League. Greenwood and Phil Foden were subsequently withdrawn from Gareth Southgate's squad after breaking COVID quarantine guidelines in Iceland by leaving the part of the hotel that the squad was occupying.
United announced in August that Greenwood would be leaving the club following an internal investigation. While it had been suggested that other English clubs were monitoring the forward’s situation, he completed a late transfer deadline-day switch to Spanish side Getafe.
The striker's future at international level is unclear, and a return to the England team in the future seems unlikely. However, a solution can be found, even though Greenwood has played one match. Greenwood can change his allegiance to Jamaica according to FIFA regulations because he is of Jamaican descent.
Because of this, the Jamaica Football Federation had to officially appeal to FIFA, the world-governing body of football, to request that the striker be allowed to represent them. “We want to have the best talent on our team,” explained boss Heimir Hallgrimsson when asked about Greenwood's situation.
“If he gets back to his previous fitness and level, then he will definitely have that level to help Jamaica.” Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate has previously said Greenwood could return to his national team. "Obviously, this is a very complex issue,” Southgate said.
"He's not playing, so it's not a consideration for us. That's the hypothesis. Anything I say frankly will be used in a less nuanced way. There are currently 13 British-born players in Jamaica's senior squad, including Aston Villa and West Ham strikers Leon Bailey and Michail Antonio.
Brentford midfielder Ethan Pinnock and Fulham midfielder Bobby Decordova-Reid are also among their ranks.
Getafe sporting director Ruben Reyes claimed last month that Greenwood's signing was "like" any other. “We did what we do: recruited players who were willing to sign contracts,” he told reporters. We don't need to worry about anything (off the field).
“We signed a player like Diego Rico and Oscar Rodriguez, that's it. We have to do our job and that's what we focus on. » Reyes added: "It's a one-year loan deal. It's very difficult to get the right to buy a player (like him). He will be there for the whole season.
There are internal discussions." , but these are small details that we try not to make." to share. They appreciated our efforts and how convinced we were. "We're very excited about him. He's a player that we know will be there. We researched, gathered information and little by little we saw that there could be a possibility.
We talked to his family, to his father, to him." people for a long time. “We convinced him to come here and trust us. We are satisfied. He plays very freely, as if he were in a schoolyard. He is very highly qualified. We dream of being able to bring it here and sometimes it comes true.”
Greenwood has scored 35 goals in 129 appearances for United after making his senior Champions League debut in March 2019. The striker remains under contract with the Red Devils until 2025, with a club option for a further 12 months .