Mason Greenwood saga takes twist as Man Utd offered two swap deals, with one far more surprising

Mason Greenwood remains a top target for Lazio and the Serie A side have been pushing to convince Manchester United into accepting a cash-plus-player deal for the striker, according to reports in Italy – but one of their domestic rivals are concocting their own similar plans.

Lazio recently emerged as one of the leading contenders to sign Greenwood after making contact with Man Utd, a crucial and decisive step that a significant portion of the several clubs linked with the attacker are yet to take themselves.

Greenwood has completed a season-long loan spell in LaLiga with Getafe and now faces an uncertain future. Before his Spanish switch, Man Utd declared he wouldn’t play for them again, but their changes in the boardroom since then have left the situation somewhat unclear.

Plenty of clubs have been linked with Greenwood but Lazio seem to be among his most serious suitors. However, they would struggle to meet Man Utd’s €40m asking price. Indeed, they haven’t spent such a fee in more than 20 years.

In an effort to reduce the costs, Lazio have been drawing up two new types of offer, according to Il Messaggero.

Their first idea is to offer Man Utd a base fee of just €18m for Greenwood. However, they would include a sell-on clause that would take the value up close to Man Utd’s price tag.

The other proposal could be a part-exchange deal. It’s claimed Lazio are willing to send Christos Mandas in the opposite direction to sweeten a deal for Greenwood.

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However, the choice of counterpart could raise some eyebrows. Mandas is a goalkeeper, which is a position Man Utd currently have Andre Onana and Altay Bayindir in.

Onana and Bayindir both only joined Man Utd last summer, from Inter and Fenerbahce respectively. Bringing in Mandas – a 22-year-old with 12 appearances for Lazio to his name so far – would only make sense if Bayindir was to vacate his role as Onana’s backup.

However, previous reports have confirmed Mandas is a player on Man Utd’s radar. He has also been linked with their local rivals Manchester City. Therefore, he may be of interest depending on what happens with the existing options.

Second Serie A suitor plots Greenwood swap

Since the claims of the Greenwood-Mandas deal, though, there has been another development in the Italian press, talking up a part-exchange deal that may make more sense.

According to La Gazzetta Dello Sport, Juventus remain interested in Greenwood too, despite recent claims they had backed down from the hunt.

And the latest method via which Juventus could bring in the 22-year-old would be to offer Federico Chiesa in return.

Also a winger, Chiesa might be the more appealing profile for Man Utd. He is about to enter the final year of his contract with Juventus, where talks over an extension haven’t made much progress.

The Italy international wants to decide his future after Euro 2024 after attracting the attention of various clubs, including Bayern Munich. But it’s not inconceivable that Man Utd could come into the equation.

Chiesa is right-footed but is capable of playing on either wing, or even in behind a centre-forward. Furthermore, at the age of 26, he’s about to enter the prime of his career.

Juventus could even offer Chiesa to Man Utd in a different deal, since they’re interested in Jadon Sancho as well. However, they’d only be willing to take the ex-Borussia Dortmund man on loan, asking the Red Devils to cover some of his salary.

Therefore, the Greenwood swap seems more tangible, but all eyes are on Lazio for now.