Mason Greenwood is preparing for arguably the most high-profile match of his Marseille career so far as Premier League champions Liverpool arrive on the south coast of France. But while the Champions League clash will be talked up as an audition for England's World Cup squad in some grubby corners of the internet, the reality is that the damage done to Greenwood's reputation in his homeland is irreparable - regardless of his exploits at Stade Velodrome.There is no denying that Greenwood is in the form of his life; a return of 26 combined goals and assists in the same number of appearances at this stage of the season is objectively sublime, as he once again leads the goal-scoring charts in his adopted country following his acrimonious permanent exit from Manchester United in 2024.Having largely operated out of sight and out of mind in Ligue 1 for casual football followers, the 24-year-old will undoubtedly be relishing the opportunity to serve up a reminder of what he is capable of in front of a wider audience when he comes up against his former club's fierce rivals on Wednesday.But despite what many in the shadows of social media would have you believe, this is not some audition for Thomas Tuchel's England World Cup squad, with Greenwood's standing in his home country irrevocably tainted.Greenwood remains a pariah in his home country as a result of the infamous legal case against him, with that grim tale beginning four years ago. He has not played for England since his sole cap against Iceland in September 2020, after which he and Phil Foden were kicked out of the squad for a breach of Covid-19 protocols.Audio and imagery of an alleged assault by Greenwood emerged online, which led to him being arrested and subsequently suspended by United in January 2022. Although he denied the accusations, he was charged with attempted rape, controlling and coercive behaviour and assault occasioning actual bodily harm in October 2022, then aged 20. However, those charges were discontinued in February 2023 after the "withdrawal of key witnesses", according to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).The one-cap England international had remained suspended by United throughout the legal process, before being loaned to Getafe for the 2023-24 season after a U-turn on keeping him at Old Trafford following an extensive and contentious internal review. He would resurrect his football career in Spain, and with the Red Devils resolved to sell him, he completed an inevitably-controversial £27 million ($35m) transfer to Marseille in the summer of 2024.Though some fans were vociferous in their opposition to his arrival, Greenwood was welcomed as a hero by the overwhelming majority in the south of France, as his tainted past was swiftly whitewashed amid the widely-held, rather perverse opinion that Marseille would never have been able to attract a player of his calibre in normal circumstances and for such a low fee, having been starved of tangible success for more than a decade.He repaid the unlikely adoration of a fervent fanbase with an impressive - albeit inconsistent - debut campaign for Roberto De Zerbi's side, matching Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembele's goal tally to finish joint-top scorer in Ligue 1 as he helped to deliver a return to the Champions League.This season, though, he seems to have entered another stratosphere; he can boast ratio of one goal involvement-per-matchfrom the right flank of Marseille's attack, most recently netting in the weekend's thumping victory over Angers as he leads the scoring charts again in the French top-flight, while impressing in the Champions League, too."Today, the debate in Marseille isn't about whether he's good or not, but rather when OM last had such an impactful player," Marseille-based La Provence football journalist and author Fabrice Lamperti tells GOAL. "At my newspaper, he was recently named OM's best right-winger of the 21st century."Greenwood is incredible; he scores a lot (41 goals since his arrival) and has perfect technique, but above all, he's broadened his game. He's becoming more of a team player, even if he's sometimes overcome by excessive individualism, and he's starting to defend and press as De Zerbi often encourages him to do."[He is] a fantastic player capable of influencing the course of a match at any time, and unpredictable thanks to his two-footedness."Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reportingBut while he has revived his football career in France, Greenwood remains in the international wilderness as he continues to be overlooked by England - under both former coach Sir Gareth Southgate and his successor Tuchel - despite his form at Stade Velodrome. As a result, the attacker was in the process of switching his allegiance to Jamaica, but having acquired a passport he is still yet to complete the necessary paperwork because he isn't ready to commit to the Caribbean nation."We expected him to be coming to this camp, but on a conversation with his family, he's not going to commit at this time to anybody," now-former Reggae Boyz boss Steve McClaren said in September. "So he's taking his time over that. It's a little bit disappointing, we probably have to be more patient. We will keep the contact. We will keep pursuing him because I know from my conversations with Mason that he loves Jamaica, he respects Jamaica. He wants to concentrate on club football and not commit to an international team at the moment."In November, it was reported that Greenwood still harbours a belief that he can make a highly-controversial return to the Three Lions' setup, which is likely behind his decision to stall on changing allegiance.That self-belief could well be being fuelled by what feels like an unofficial promotional campaign online. In a grim corner of social media, where misogyny is often rife, accounts with significant numbers of followers question why Greenwood continues to be overlooked by England. Others baselessly claim he is in line for a recall. You need only search his name on X to find countless examples as the accountholders wilfully ignore the gravity of the past legal case against him.And the trend isn't exclusive to these relatively small-fry accounts, either. The official Ligue 1 X page regularly shares clips of Greenwood's exploits that play up his contributions in France, while transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano - who has more than 70 million followers across his various social media accounts - routinely posts updates on the 24-year-old's statistics, for reasons unknown.When De Zerbi described the forward as a Ballon d'Or-level talent recently (yet more strange PR), Romano even used AI to generate an image of Greenwood holding the award alongside the Italian tactician and shared it to his 42 million Instagram followers.Despite the irreparable damage done to his reputation back home, Greenwood has received favourable coverage across the media in France and beyond, too, with the discontinued case against him rarely mentioned. In his introductory press conference back in 2024, the questions were moderated by Marseille's press officers, with a line of inquiry relating to the allegations swiftly shut down.He is even starting to get positive coverage in the English press, with former player Troy Deeney writing in The Sun in November: "Football cannot be a place where people are written off after mistakes, alleged or not, in their younger years. This is not to dismiss the seriousness of those allegations. Greenwood will live with them forever. But, if he wants an England return, he must address it in public – prove he is worthy of wearing the England shirt, show he can be trusted. If Greenwood can face that and come through it, he deserves a second chance with England. If there were to be no way back whatsoever, the game is setting a dangerous precedent."Whether Greenwood's form or this is reputational cleansing campaign is having any effect on the Football Association or Tuchel's resolve remains to be seen. The official line is that he is not currently under consideration for selection, but the England boss has stopped short of stating definitively that the former United player will never be called up again. Perhaps tellingly, he still has a profile on the England Football website."I have not spoken to him until now. I have not spoken to him or his camp," the Three Lions head coach told a news conference in September. "My understanding was that he tries to play for Jamaica so we didn't give it another thought. He was not in the mix at the moment and he is not in our thoughts for our team."Greenwood's hesitance to commit to Jamaica suggests he may have been offered some hope that he has a future with England, but a recall at this stage of the World Cup cycle is highly, highly unlikely as Tuchel makes his final preparations for the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico this summer.If Tuchel's words can be believed and that directive won't change, then this should be a moot point. Nevertheless, it remains a burning question in Marseille and among a certain section of England fans online. The view from France is that Greenwood would be an asset."Yes, absolutely," Lamperti says when asked whether Greenwood could be a weapon for the Three Lions. "He can be a super-sub. He's only 24, still has plenty of room for improvement, and is brimming with confidence. He just needs to feel loved. But I think England isn't ready to forgive him."However, Marseille-based English football journalist George Boxall, who covers OM, disagrees."If we put the legal case and his past to one side, then there is an argument to say that he has a stake to claim in that side," he tells GOAL. "He is the Ligue 1 top scorer and has been playing some objectively electric football at times; his stats have already surpassed the likes of Glenn Hoddle and Chris Waddle in France. The problem is that you can't separate the player from his past, it's just not realistic to do so."Asked whether he believed there was any chance of Greenwood being recalled, Boxall continued: "I would have imagined if there was genuine public repentance, an explanation, and better communication on his part it may have been achievable, but it's too late now. He is still playing football, he is happy at Marseille and already has his second chance as someone who is still playing football at the highest level and is paid to do so."Playing for England will reopen those scars from the past, and it won't benefit anyone involved: Not Tuchel, nor Greenwood, nor his family, and least of all victims of sexual abuse in a wider sense."Wherever the truth lies, Greenwood will surely see Wednesday's clash against Liverpool as a chance to demonstrate what he is capable of in front of a global audience, including many who would have willingly let him slip from their consciousness over the past 18 months. While he is still yet to play a match in his homeland since being sent out on loan to Getafe by United, this is arguably the highest-profile game he will have featured in for Marseille against an English side, having previously faced Newcastle back in November.Undeniably in the form of his life, should Greenwood deliver another eye-catching performance when the Premier League champions come to town, then that will only act as more fuel for the grimy PR machine that is trying to drum up support for the disgraced attacker five months out from the World Cup. However, much in the same sense that a transfer back to English shores is an impossibility as a result of the backlash that would come with it, Greenwood's international career - for the Three Lions, at least - is dead in the water.Unlike his club, England have not been so starved of success that they need to make such a drastic and controversial decision, even if a return hasn't been ruled out definitively. The past legal case against him aside, Tuchel is blessed with a wealth of attacking options and will certainly not see any need to rock the boat in such a violent way, especially given he has largely stayed loyal to a fairly consistent core of players. Whatever Greenwood might think, there is little to no chance that this week's outing will be an audition for the World Cup in five months' time.