Barcelona 'eye £40m move for Greenwood' and 'ready to give him No 10 shirt'

Barcelona are reportedly ready to offer Mason Greenwood Lionel Messi's old No 10 jersey as part of a £40million summer transfer.

The former England international is currently on-loan in Spain with Getafe after it was decided he would play no part in Manchester United's immediate future.

This came after criminal allegations against him for attempted rape, assault and coercive control were dropped. The 22-year-old denied all the charges.

Greenwood has not set LaLiga alight by any measure but he has on occasion produced the flashes of quality that promised a long and successful career when he broke into the United first team in 2019.

Nevertheless, according to The Sun, the forward's return of three goals and four assists in 13 games has been enough to convince cash-strapped Barcelona to fork out £40m for his services.

The Catalan giants are reportedly so eager to snap up the youngster that they are prepared to hand him the No 10 shirt, which has gone unworn since the departure of Ansu Fati for Brighton in August.

Greenwood's current side Getafe are rumoured to be interested in permanently signing the forward.

The outfit sit eighth in the top-flight and are currently riding a three-game unbeaten run, with the most recent result coming against title-chasers Atletico Madrid in a 3-3 draw.

Atleti and France striker Antoine Griezmann heaped praise on Greenwood after the match, insisting: 'Mason Greenwood was really causing us problems in the second half.

'We couldn’t stop him and it cost us the game,' he added.