Jesse lingard turned 31 in December just
18 months ago his instrumental
performances for West Ham made him one
of the most desirable free agents on the
market and yet he hasn't played
competitive football since April 2023
and has been without a club for over 6
months so what's
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happened former teammates of lingard
talk about a guy who's been popular at
all of his clubs and played at a level
including a World Cup semi-final that
automatically commands respect among his
fellow professionals but his last
Premier League appearance was as a
two-minute substitute for Nottingham
Forest against Manchester United 8
months ago and he hasn't made a
19-minute appearance since August of
2022 that was only his second in 15
months it's been a period of drift for a
player who previously won 32 England
caps and contributed to some of
Manchester United's better moments
sinceer Alex Ferguson's retirement
including scoring the winning goal in
the 2016 FA Cup Final there have been
some nagging injuries some personal
issues and only sporadic glimpses of his
undoubted talent and a little more than
2 years since his last England
appearance the life of quote Jay Lings
involves an entirely different routine
these days taking a ball and going
outside alone other than a personal
trainer to work on his Fitness lingard
has started turning up at a Sports
Center in Newton Heath the area of North
Manchester where men United were founded
to go through his drills work up a sweat
and then upload the pictures to his
social media Channels with Snappy
phrases such as keep pushing or
positivity in progress even the hardest
days will eventually pass read one
recent post we only do positive the
intention presumably is to show
potential employers how hard he's
working how devoted he remains to the
sport whatever anyone might say and how
he's ready for a new challenge his
ambition it seems is to find a team in
the US motivation hunger and love for
the game read another recent post but
unfortunately for lingard the new MLS
season does not start until February
nothing has been agreed and over the
last 6 months the football industry is
cynical enough for many people to
question his priorities why is someone
with his ability out of work does he not
care does this not hurt his Professional
Pride surely nobody would want to be a
non-f footballing footballer and these
questions are understandable because
there's nothing Orthodox about a
footballer of lingard's age spending
half a year or possibly longer out of
the game but there is some context here
and if anything the nature of modern-day
football makes it likely that we'll see
more of this happening in the future
here we have a man of extraordinary
wealth who's in a position where he does
not have to rush into what he does next
it is not about a shortage of offers
according to people with knowledge of
the situation who will remain anonymous
to protect their positions or that
lingard holds any arrogant assumptions
about the level that he should be
playing it's more about waiting for the
deal that suits him best rather than
feeling compelled or pressured to accept
whatever comes his way a famous example
of what not to do comes in the form of
Michael Owen who without a club at the
end of his career decided to join Stoke
despite obviously not suiting manager
Tony pulis's style of play I must admit
that when I signed for Stoke I did so
with absolutely no joy Owen wrote in his
2019 autobiography it was just a job and
I signed only because I thought it was
the right thing to do at the time what
else could I do Owen would retire at the
end of one miserable season and for
lingard the attitude seems to be why
Rush he had previously spent several
weeks training with elac the Saudi pro
league club where Steven Gerard is the
manager before that lingard had a
similar Arrangement at West Ham but
nothing more came of it and all the talk
of Saudi Arabia fizzled out too wolves
toyed with the idea of moving for him
other clubs in the Premier League
discussed his availability along with
one from Italy but nothing has worked
out and it's worth remembering that
lingard despite everything will not come
cheap Forest were paying a b basic
weekly salary of
£15,000 plus some eye watering bonuses
which led to some issues between the
players camp and the club's owners
lingard is not blameless and you have to
wonder whether on reflection he
recognizes it was a mistake not to
rejoin West Ham last season especially
as it meant him not being part of their
Europa conference League Triumph the
club's first major trophy for 43 years
other offers were proposed by Newcastle
United and Fulham with four-year deals
under discussion instead lingard signed
a one-year contract with Forest where he
only started 14 games rather than
accepting the club's offer of a 2-year
Arrangement maybe that was an error too
but he and his advisers thought he would
be in a stronger position if he played
well for a year which he didn't and
became available on a free transfer with
that in mind it becomes easier to
understand why lingard wants to make
sure his next choice is the right one
his Penance comes in the form of 247
reminders via the cesspit of social
media that he is a sherker and a waster
to go with all the the Hostile headlines
and regular unpleasantness that someone
in his position has to encounter but
he's hardly the only player in this
position former Manchester United
teammate David de Gea has been a free
agent for just as long as has onetime
Arsenal Center back scdra mustafi who is
also without a club all have different
reputations but like lingard and in what
will likely prove a growing Trend
they're all seemingly willing and able
to wait for the right opportunity if you
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