Mason Greenwood's 'toughest ever opponent' now playing in the Championship

Former Manchester United winger Mason Greenwood has named Millwall left-back Joe Bryan his ‘toughest ever opponent’. Greenwood faced the English defender when he was at Premier League side Fulham, and claimed the left-back didn’t give him any room to breathe during the game.

By this point in 2021, Greenwood had appeared in a Europa League final and had faced top-level European teams such as AC Milan, Sevilla and Real Sociedad. However, the now-22-year-old named Bryan as the one defender who gave him the most problems during a match.

Speaking on the United website in 2021, the winger said: “I’ve probably got to say, it might be a surprising one, but do you know [Joe] Bryan, the one for Fulham? He allowed me no space, no time on the ball, when we played them home and away. It was one of my most difficult games for us.

“He’s one you probably wouldn’t think I’d say his name, but he was getting tight to me and not giving me much space. He was a good defender and he was probably my toughest challenge.”

Bryan joined Fulham in 2018 and made 117 appearances for them, scoring five goals and assisting 10 times from a left-back position. He then departed on loan to French club Nice in 2022 and moved to Championship side Millwall in 2023 when his contract ran out with Fulham.

Since then, the 30-year-old has scored twice and assisted once in just 31 appearances for the London club, although he had been sidelined for a while after undergoing groin surgery.

The defender had also been banned for three matches at the beginning of the year after admitting to a charge of violent conduct during a match against Coventry City. Bryan had appeared to hit City’s Tatsuhiro Sakamoto in the face with his forearm and escaped without immediate punishment.

However, match officials were shown the incident after the game and Bryan accepted the standard three-game suspension for his actions.

Bryan has remained the starting left-back for Millwall this season and couldn’t be further from Greenwood – who now plays his football in France after being turfed out by United this summer.