Speaking on Sky Sports, Manchester United legend, Gary Neville stated that he has been left ‘disappointed’ by Jesse Lingard’s decision to stay at Old Trafford for the 2021/22 season despite substantial interest from West Ham United.
“I would actually have thought that a couple more players at Manchester United [would have left]. I’m disappointed for Jesse Lingard that he’s not left Manchester United.
“He’ll get a few games, he’ll get moments on the pitch, he’ll contribute, but I think he had something going at West Ham last year that meant Jesse Lingard in his own right was standing up as a really good player.
“To go back to being a squad player again I think, for me, is disappointing. I think you sometimes have to sort of fly the nest and go. I thought he’d already done that with what he did last year.
“So I think there’s two or three players that won’t get a lot of game time this year that could have joined Dan James and really furthered their careers and got more football.”
Neville was quick to praise Daniel James, who secured a £25 million move to Leeds United on the deadline day.
“I think it’s really good for Dan James. I think this is one of those where it’s a win-win, there’s no sadness for me in Dan James leaving because I think he came to United, he always did his very best, he was a massive threat on the counter-attack.”
Jesse Lingard’s Phenomenal Spell At London Stadium
From struggling to get into Solskjaer’s plans to narrowly missing out on a place in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the Euro Championship 2020 – it would be an understatement to say that Jesse Lingard’s move to West Ham United for the second half of 2020/21 season reconstructed his career and restored him to the frame.
Besides recording thirteen-goal contributions in sixteen appearances for the Hammers, the 28-year-old managed to put up some astonishing numbers on the board as he averaged 1.1 key passes, 2.6 shots, 0.4 crosses, 1.1 dribbles, and 1 long ball per 90 minutes in the Premier League. Furthermore, with an average WhoScored rating of 7.22, he established himself as one of the finest creators of his side.
What Lies Ahead For The Englishman?
Well, it’s quite heroic of Lingard to stay and fight for a place in Manchester United’s star-studded starting line-up; but on a realistic note, he won’t be making the cut until and unless there are some serious long-term injuries. The signing of Jadon Sancho has further diminished his chances of achieving the same, and given his age, another season in the sporadic role would harm his career to a great extent.
David Moyes is a huge admirer of the Warrington-born midfielder, and this was arguably his best chance of leaving Manchester United on a permanent basis. Instead, the London club signed Nikola Vlasic from CSKA Moscow on deadline day.
If Solskjaer provides Lingard with adequate game-time in cup fixtures, he might end up attracting some interest in the coming months, and in that case, a winter sale would make perfect sense for all the parties involved.
(Stats from WhoScored)
