Mason Greenwood's life in Marseille as Roberto De Zerbi changes mind and move takes twist

Just months after his £26million summer transfer to Marseille, Mason Greenwood experienced the brutal reality of struggling to deliver under the expectations of a big-money price tag.

The former Manchester United forward was hauled off by his manager Roberto De Zerbi, who made a clear example of his star man after a pitiful performance against champions Paris Saint-Germain.

It was no surprise when the 23-year-old didn't emerge after the break after an anonymous first-half display. That said, Marseille didn't exactly improve in the second half as they succumbed to a 3-0 defeat against their Ligue 1 rivals.

When explaining the reason for the brutal substitution, De Zerbi said: "Because I didn't like the way he played. If we want to compete for the title we have to push in all matches.

"I think he was having a bad day. He [has given] us a lot of goals and points, but when you're at Olympique Marseille, if you want to fight for the championship, you have to push in every match.

"You can't say you're [producing] a good performance by scoring two goals and then having a bad patch the next match. It's not possible.

"He's a good player, but I expected more from him tonight. But not only from him. I always expect more in general."

It seems like Greenwood took his feedback on board because in the months after that fateful evening at the Stade Velodrome, the Bradford-born striker began to find his feet on his French adventure.

He scored in his next two appearances against Nantes and Auxerre, before bagging an 89th-minute winner in a crucial 2-1 victory over AS Monaco.

Then he found the net in their 2-0 win over Saint-Etienne and scored against the same team to beat them 4-0 in the French Cup.

With 11 goals in his first 16 appearances, only Didier Drogba had enjoyed a better start to life than Greenwood in terms of goals. His run of five goals in eight games even led to a surprise U-turn from De Zerbi, who took note of his improvement.

"He's very committed and always gives everything he has. He's a very strong player, and he makes the difference for Olympique Marseille," he said after the win against Nantes.

"I was surprised by Greenwood last week because he didn't play well [in the 3-0 loss to PSG]. He was far from his standards. Tonight, I wasn't surprised by Greenwood."

His progress has not gone unnoticed in Manchester either. Red Devils pair Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot have been keeping a close eye on Greenwood's progress and 'liked' a recent Instagram post where he wrote in the caption: "Job done onto the next round."

It won't be lost on United that Greenwood is thriving while Ruben Amorim's side struggle down in 13th place in the Premier League.

His 10 goals in Ligue 1 are more than what Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee have mustered between them, although it is a strong argument that it is tougher to succeed in England than the French top flight.

Greenwood has kept his head down and focused purely on his football since his high-profile switch six months ago, and the results are promising for Marseille.

It could even lead to them netting a sizeable profit, with the striker rumoured to be a target for Barcelona and Juventus.

One destination that can be ruled out is an Old Trafford reunion, as both parties made it clear they were happy to move on.

But after a troublesome few months across the Channel in convincing his manager and winning over some of his detractors in the south of France, Greenwood looks to have finally settled into his life beyond United.