Man United Suspends Mason Greenwood Over ‘Rape and Assault’

Manchester United footballer Mason Greenwood, 20, was arrested by Greater Manchester Police yesterday over ‘rape and assault’ allegations

England footballer Mason Greenwood was being questioned into the night by police after being arrested over allegations of rape and assault.

The Manchester United forward, 20, remained in custody having been detained yesterday after distressing pictures and audio circulated on social media alleging he attacked an 18-year-old student.

The images appeared to show the woman bloodied and bruised.

Another post included a voice recording of a conversation between a man and a woman, dated October last year, which purportedly chronicled the woman being attacked.

Within hours of the messages emerging and spreading across social media, his club put out a statement saying it was aware of them and they were making inquiries ‘to establish the full circumstances’.

It added: ‘Manchester United does not condone violence of any kind.’

Manchester United suspended the rising star, who earns a reported £75,000 a week, shortly before news of his arrest emerged.

In a second statement, the club hierarchy said the player would ‘not return to training or play matches until further notice’.

News of Greenwood’s suspension and arrest is also likely to put his lucrative sponsorship deal with Nike at risk. Yesterday a spokesman for the sports brand said they were ‘deeply concerned by the disturbing allegations’ and would be ‘closely monitoring the situation’.

The allegedly incriminating posts were online for just a few hours before being deleted.