It’s quite easy to point at this kind of thing and say the player is unlikely to care about it, but in the case of Jesse Lingard we can be pretty confident he probably does care quite a lot about his rating in Fifa.
Statistically he’s struggled to provide a meaningful contribution for a while, but his general play is also a big concern. He looks like he’s lost a yard of pace and has no confidence when he receives the ball.
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At his best, he would make darting runs and little tricks and lay offs would make him a nightmare to mark. Now the opposition now he will take too many touches, not make his mind up and the ball can be won back pretty easily.
He hasn’t scored in 12 games this season and the ratings adjusters at Fifa have taken notice. According to a story in The Manchester Evening News, his overall rating has dropped to 81 while his potential to grow has taken a pretty big knock too.
It’s only fair after he’s gone through the worst run of form in his career. He also turns 27 in December so he can’t even get away with being referred to as a youngster anymore.
If he keeps this form up then United will have a serious decision to make. He might be useful as a back up option but it’s unlikely Lingard will accept that.
Unless he shows a huge improvement, it’s easy to see him being sold next Summer.