The manager of Mason Greenwood's potential next club has boldly insisted he will defend the English forward as if he were his son, despite a number of protests to the move.
Greenwood is widely expected to leave Manchester United on a permanent deal in the current window.
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The forward spent the entire 2023/24 campaign on loan at Getafe, where he impressed with 10 goals and six assists in 36 matches across all competitions, and was named the LALIGA team's Player of the Season.
As a result, a number of clubs have registered their interest in the player, with teams such as Lazio, Atletico Madrid, and Juventus having been tipped to sign him in recent months.
However, it now appears that Greenwood's next destination could be France.
According to ESPN, Olympique Marseille have agreed to a deal worth £26.7 million (R618 million), including add-ons, plus a substantial sell-on clause, to sign Greenwood from the Red Devils.
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New Marseille manager Roberto De Zerbi has seemingly endorsed the potential transfer already, having vowed to defend Greenwood amid some of the French club's fans protesting the move for the Englishman.
"Mason is a world-class player, but we have not recruited him yet," the Italian manager said, as per ESPN.
"I don't know what happened, but I am not used to get involved in my players' private life.
"But if he comes here, you have to know that I treat all my players like my sons. I can tell them off in private, but I would never attack them in public."
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The mayor of Marseille has since come out to oppose the Greenwood move too, suggesting that the player's alleged past actions – he was charged with rape and assault in January 2022, although these were later dropped – are unacceptable.
"Greenwood's behaviour is unspeakable, unacceptable," Marseille mayor Benoit Payan told French radio station RMC on Tuesday.
"Hitting his wife... I saw images that deeply shocked me. Massacring his wife in this way is unbecoming of a man, and he cannot have his place on this team.
"The values of OM and Marseille are anything but that in fact. It's a shame.
"I will ask [Marseille president] Pablo Longoria not to recruit Greenwood. I don't want my club to be covered with the shame of someone who hits his wife."