Getafe coach Jose Bordalas has been forced to apologise after wrongly claiming Jude Bellingham was a key part of Mason Greenwood’s move to Getafe.
The 21-year-old joined the La Liga side on loan from Manchester United earlier this month and made his first appearance for his new club on Sunday.
Earlier this week Bordalas revealed that he had been told that Bellingham – who himself moved to Spain this summer with Real Madrid – had told Greenwood to move La Liga.
“Greenwood has a friendship with Bellingham and he recommended that he come and play in the Spanish league,” he told Radio Marca.
The Athletic understands that Bordalas was informed that Bellingham’s entourage were unhappy with his comments and, following Sunday’s win over Osasuna, he moved to clarify his previous statement.
“I wanted to clear up a misunderstanding there has been. I said that Mason Greenwood came to Getafe because he had spoken to Bellingham,” he said.
“It has been clarified to me that this was not the case. I apologise. Mason arrived in a different way. It was our interest and they offered him to me and we were very interested. I just wanted to clarify that, it was not a bad intention.”
Getafe have also reached out to Bellingham.
GO DEEPER
Greenwood makes first appearance for Getafe
Greenwood moved to the club on September 1 after an internal investigation at United concluded he would not return to their first-team squad.
Bordalas is delighted to have Greenwood as part of his group and was pleased with what he saw from his newest arrival after introducing him as a second-half substitute.
“We were pleasantly surprised, it was a tough match and a tough time. There was a lot of back and forth. He has helped in offensive tasks, he has been very supportive.
“We are working with patience and tranquility, he has not played for many months. Today must have been a very special day for him. The player wants to compete and play. We have seen the response from the fans and his teammates. We have to be calm. The participation has been remarkable.
“We are very happy, he is very integrated for such a short period. The language is a handicap, he is with a teacher to try to accelerate the learning of Spanish to have better contact with his teammates. He is having a remarkable start, we are very happy and content.
“We are on the sidelines of what can be commented, I already clarified it. Now we are only talking about sports, I have told my teammates, we are happy with Mason’s behaviour. It’s good for him.”
GO DEEPER
Inside Greenwood’s move from Manchester United to Getafe - and why he ended up in Spain
(Photo: Angel Martinez/Getty Images / Diego Souto/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)
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