Manchester United misfit Jesse Lingard was reportedly left furious with manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer prior to yesterday’s surprise 3-1 defeat to Crystal Palace.
The Red Devils got the new season off to a poor start with a shock home defeat, and it sounds like all is not entirely well off the pitch either.
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According to the Daily Star, Lingard has been working hard to get back to peak fitness for this season, but was left ‘seething’ after being told by Solskjaer that he wasn’t even on the bench to take on Palace.
The England international is also linked with Tottenham by the Daily Star, and it sounds like it’s going to be tough for him to continue at Old Trafford as things stand.
Lingard was already out of favour for much of last season and may have to move on in order to get the kind of playing time he wants.
Man Utd fans may be concerned, however, by the Daily Star’s claims that Solskjaer has snubbed Lingard quite so much when he’s showing what sounds like a good attitude and determination to get back into the first-team fold.
Lingard hasn’t always been the most popular player at United, but he’s a homegrown talent who has had some big-game performances for the club down the years.
Former United midfielder Luke Chadwick recently told CaughtOffside that he felt the 27-year-old still had something to offer the team, even if only as a squad player.
“On form I think Jesse Lingard can offer so much to Manchester United,” he said. “We speak about players like (Paul) Pogba, (Bruno) Fernandes, who are all wonderful on the ball, but I think what Lingard offers is wonderful movement, whether he plays in central or wide areas. He understands the game really well in terms of his movement off the ball.
“I think maybe more likely now is that that could be coming off the bench, but I think there is game time there for Lingard. Obviously he needs to think about his own future. If you look at the squad Ole’s put together I’d be quite surprised if Jesse was a starter, but I think he still offers plenty to be an effective Premier League player.”