Former Man Utd's Jesse Lingard to join Seoul FC on two year contract

Jesse Lingard's career is complex and almost difficult to understand at first glance. A wonderkid with a huge talent who already started to emerge with the youth team in a golden era for Manchester United. Step by step, with experience away from Old Trafford, he earned a chance with the Red Devils. He made the most of it for several seasons.

However, the English forward's performance went downhill, the critics grew and the English player decided to hide behind alcohol. From there, he found a convincing escape route in a loan spell at West Ham, but it was a mirage. A couple of years later, after approaching Barcelona, trying out Saudi Arabia and sacking his agents, it seems that football will take him to South Korea.

Lingard's peak as a footballer came in the 2015-16 campaign. After benefiting from the experience of loan spells at Birmingham, Brighton and Derby County, under Van Gaal he was important in his first full season in Manchester. He made 40 appearances, 32 of them starts, with six goals and three assists. Under Jose Mourinho he reached an outstanding level at the age of 25 in 2017-18, with 13 goals and 6 assists.

Everything changed in 2019

Coinciding with Manchester United's slump in 2019, the criticism was heaped on Jesse Lingard, who had to cope with that demand as the emotional weight of what was happening at home hit him. His mother, Kirsty, was admitted to hospital in 2019 because of depression. Meanwhile, his siblings, Jasper (15) and Daisy (11), turned to him to cope with their problems.

Lingard himself told the 'Daily Mail' a few years ago how he felt: "In training I was trying to mask my depression and hide my anxiety. The world falls away from you and there is no one to support you".

"I was drinking alcohol to kill the pain. I was trying to forget what I was going through by drinking, but it made it 10 times worse," said the Englishman at the time, who, after telling his then coach Solskjaer what he was going through, finally all parties decided that Lingard would face a new loan spell.

So it was: in 2021 he spent a few months on loan at West Ham. An attempt to regain sensations for a player who, at the time, was only 28 years old. Nine goals and four assists in 16 appearances for the Hammers helped Lingard regain his enthusiasm for football and he returned to the mancunian side for the 2021-22 season.

But his return was not as expected. Only 22 appearances, 4 of them as a starter, and a more than discreet performance. Therefore, in the summer of 2022, he left Old Trafford after many years and joined Nottingham Forest on a free transfer. Although in the first few weeks he looked like the great footballer he had shown himself to be for years, his light gradually faded until he disappeared from the team's line-ups.

Nor did his non-sporting side help in the process of trying to get back to his best. In 2023, the Englishman was arrested after driving under the influence of alcohol (English media spoke of twice the permitted level) and his licence was withdrawn for 18 months.

Approach to Barca, change of agents... and Saudi Arabia

After the end of the 2022-23 season, Jesse Lingard was without a team. There were rumours of another stint in the Premier League with West Ham, as well as an offer to Barcelona, but the option of a move to Saudi Arabia grew at the height of the league, which signed many of Europe's elite for weeks. In fact, Lingard even spent several days on trial at Al Ettifaq, where Steven Gerrard now coaches.

It seemed that everything was on track for the Briton to sign for the Saudi club, but the deal did not come to fruition. Coincidentally, the player decided to sack his agents days later when they were unable to find him a team to continue his career. Since then... very little was known about Lingard until Fabrizio Romano, always an expert in these matters, revealed his new destination.

According to the reputed journalist, Lingard will continue his career in the South Korean league, specifically at FC Seoul. He has already passed the first part of the medical and it is expected to be made official this week. Jesse Lingard, if nothing goes wrong, will play in the K-League.

 

February 6, 2024