According to Goal, Manchester United star Jesse Lingard is on his way out of the club this summer after having spent 20 years with the Red Devils. Playing time has become harder to come by in recent times for the 27-year-old, and now it seems as though he will have to look elsewhere in the summer.
Lingard’s time at Manchester United
As mentioned, Lingard has been at Manchester United for 20 years – since was just 7-years-old. He eventually broke through the ranks at 18-years-old back in 2011, and had a number of loan spells before becoming a first team regular.
Lingard spent time at Leicester City, Birmingham City, Brighton and Hove Albion as well as Derby County between 2012 and 2015. He scored a grand total of 11 goals in 47 appearances across his four loan spells, and came back to Manchester United to start making his mark on the first team.
In the 2015/16 season, Lingard finally started to break through and scored his first Manchester United goal against West Bromwich Albion at Old Trafford in November. He would go on to score a few more goals that season and finished the year with seven goals and four assists in 41 appearances across all competitions.
In 2017/18, Lingard enjoyed his most prolific season in a Manchester United shirt, nabbing 13 goals and seven assists in his 48 appearances across all competitions. In fact, Lingard got more goals that season that he has in total across the year and a half since then…
This year has been particularly tough for Lingard as he’s struggled to find any sort of consistent form. He’s scored just two goals all season, one in the Europa League and one in the FA Cup – a return that has seen him vilified in the press and on social media.
Where will he go?
That is the one thing that is very much unclear – according to the original report in Goal, there are no teams who have expressed a serious interest in signing Lingard as of yet.
While I’m sure he will want to continue playing at the very top level and competing in European competition, his recent poor form may mean he will have to drop down the Premier League table a little bit to make sure he gets game-time.
As much as I believe he does have the quality to play at the top level, Lingard needs to find his form. For me, a move down the table is the best way for him to get back to playing his best football and look to find a way back into the England set up.
Someone like Crystal Palace stands out for me as a decent option. They already have star talent on the left wing in the shape of Wilfried Zaha, but there’s a chance the Ivorian could be on his way out of Selhurst Park in the summer – thus giving Roy Hodgson the room to bring in a player like Lingard.
Other options include the likes of Everton – but unless they sell Richarlison, he’s likely to spend a fair amount of time on the bench at Goodison Park – the same goes for the likes of Wolves.
Another possible option for Lingard could be Newcastle United – the Magpies look set to stay in the Premier League this season following their win over Southampton on Saturday, and will be looking to bolster their attacking options this summer.
In terms of the price, TransferMarkt value the Englishman at £19.8m which, in today’s market, seems like it’ll be somewhere around the right area. Let’s not forget that Lingard recently hired so-called super agent Mino Raiola, increasing the chances of him ending up at another top team.
He may even decide that a move away from English football is the best chance he will have at revitalising his career – much the same way Kieran Trippier did when he shifted to Atletico Madrid last summer.
Either way, it seems that Jesse Lingard’s time at Manchester United is drawing to a close. Where he will end up next is anyone’s guess – let’s just hope he can have a few good games before the end of the season and get a proper send-off, after-all, he’s given 20 years of his life to that club.
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