Jesse Lingard has reportedly turned down a contract offer from Manchester United following the summer arrivals of Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo.
According to the Evening Standard, the England international is reluctant to extend his deal at Old Trafford after struggling to secure game time.
Lingard knocked back the prospect of returning to West Ham United in the summer as he was hopeful of playing more under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer this term.
Despite undergoing a renaissance at the London Stadium in the second half of last season, the 28-year-old has found his first-team opportunities hard to come by at the beginning of the new campaign.
The completion of Sancho’s long-awaited switch to Manchester, coupled with Mason Greenwood’s stellar form, has restricted the English winger’s top-flight action to just four minutes.
With Ronaldo expected to make his second debut for the Red Devils this weekend against Newcastle United, Lingard’s hopes of breaking into Soslkjaer’s starting line-up look pretty slim.
Lingard probably now regrets his decision to reject West Ham’s bid in the summer and is now seeking a way out of Manchester.
He has less than a year left to run on his contract at United, with the club reportedly looking to tie him down to a new one.
But the player is desperate to make England’s squad for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and knows he needs regular first-team football to convince Gareth Southgate.
Even though he has barely featured for United this term, the resurgent forward has been exceptional for the Three Lions during the ongoing international window.
He notched up a brace and laid an assist to Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka as England hammered minnows Andorra 4-0 in a World Cup qualifier last weekend.
Read: How will Kylian Mbappe’s desire to join Real Madrid affect Paul Pogba’s future?
You must be logged in to post a comment Login