Sir Jim Ratcliffe has said that Manchester United will "look at facts, judge fairly and take into consideration what the values of the club are" before deciding Mason Greenwood's future at Old Trafford.
As it stands, the 22-year-old will head back to Manchester this summer following the conclusion of a loan spell at Getafe, and he still has a contract with the Red Devils until June 2025.
There remains a host of speculation surrounding the forward's future, with various clubs in Spain, including Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, said to be keen to sign him permanently this summer.
Greenwood has scored seven goals and registered five assists in 24 appearances in his comeback season, including five goals and five assists in 21 La Liga appearances.
There have recently been suggestions that there could yet be a route for him back into the first-team squad at Old Trafford despite the sensitivity surrounding the situation.
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Ratcliffe, who was confirmed as Man United's new minority shareholder on Tuesday night, has now directly addressed the situation for the first time.
"We need to look at facts, judge fairly and take into consideration what the values of the club are. Then we come out of that with a decision. It is not appropriate for me to comment on Mason Greenwood," Ratcliffe told BBC Sport.
Ratcliffe then added to journalists in Knightsbridge: "I can talk about the principle, I'm not going to talk about Mason. I'm familiar with it. The principle is the important one because we will have other issues going forward.
"You're dealing with young people, they've not always been brought up in the best of circumstances, who are very talented, they've got lots of money and they don't always have maybe the guidance they should have.
"What we need to do when we have issues like that is, we need to understand what the facts are - the real facts, not the hype - what the real facts are. Then we need to make a fair decision in the light of the club's values, that's what we need to do and that's how we will do it.
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"We'll make a decision, yeah, correct. And we'll justify it one way or another. All I can do is talk about the principle of how we will approach it. Is he the right type of footballer? Is he a good person or not?"
"Well, he's a Manchester United footballer, we're in charge of football, so the answer is yeah, we have to make a decision, it's quite clear.
"There is no decision that's been made. He's on loan, obviously. We've got one or two footballers we have to deal with that are on our books and we need to make a decision, we'll do that.
"But the process will understand the facts, not the hype, and then try and come to a fair decision on the basis of advice, which basically is he a good guy or not? Could he play sincerely for Manchester United well and we'd be comfortable with it and the fans would be comfortable with it?"
In January 2022, following accusations from a woman, the Red Devils academy product was arrested on suspicion of rape and assault, and he was then further arrested on suspicion of sexual assault and threats to kill.
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Greenwood was also facing charges of attempted rape, engaging in controlling and coercive behaviour, and assault occasioning actual bodily harm, but the case against him was dropped last February.
The 20-time English champions are believed to have initially decided to bring Greenwood back into their squad for the 2023-24 season but were forced into a U-turn due to the public backlash, which led to him being loaned to Getafe for the current campaign.
Greenwood has scored 35 goals and registered 12 assists in 129 matches for his parent club in all competitions, with his last appearance coming against West Ham United in January 2022.
A recent report claimed that Man United would want around £34m to sell him this summer, and it is still believed to be highly likely that the Englishman will depart on a permanent basis at the end of the campaign.
Greenwood is understood to have settled in Spain alongside his family and is keen on making a long-term move to the country later this year if his Red Devils career cannot be revived.
Matt Law
