Mason Greenwood
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer refused to be drawn into a club versus country battle over Mason Greenwood following the teenager’s England snub. Speaking before United’s game with Arsenal on Sunday, Solskjaer revealed his conversations with Southgate had been amicable in the past few months.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said “Well it’s Gareth’s decision who he wants in his team and I had a very good conversation with him before the last squad get-together. I don’t want to interfere. It’s his decision who he picks of course and if he wants to pick any of my players they are available of course. You’re not getting me into this discussion, definitely, I’m not giving you any headlines! I’m full of admiration for the way Gareth is managing the England squad and I think he has done a fantastic job. I’ll leave him to focus on his job and me on mine.”
Greenwood returned to the United side for their Champions League encounter with RB Leipzig in midweek and scored the opening goal in the 5-0 rout of the German side. The teenager is in contention to start again versus Arsenal as Anthony Martial serves the final game of a three-match suspension following his red card against Tottenham.
Gareth Southgate sent both the Manchester United forward and Manchester City’s Phil Foden home in September after they broke COVID-19 protocols during an away trip to Iceland. He then omitted both players from his most recent Three Lions squad in early October. Solskjaer has since faced questions of his own regarding Greenwood’s discipline, though denied reports that the 19-year-old had been late for training, backing his player.
