Former Manchester United attacker Jesse Lingard has opened up on his big career regret. Life after United The Carrington product played 232 times for the Red Devils before leaving the club in 2022. He joined Nottingham Forest before eventually moving to FC Seoul in South Korea. Lingard left the Korean club at the end of last year and has been linked to a move back to the Premier League and La Liga. Past regrets Speaking to Sky Sports, Lingard reflected on his final days at Old Trafford. He claimed, “it was 2021 when I left and as I say I had been there since I was seven years old and being around the lads and the facilities there, you know everybody from such a young age.” Lingard added, “obviously I had different managers and different managers are going to play you or not play you – it is understandable. As a player you want to play every game so obviously I wanted to play. I feel like after the West Ham loan spell that season, coming back, I felt like I deserved to play. I was probably one of the best players in the league at West Ham, at the time. I probably deserved to go to the Euros, in fairness.” Nonetheless, he is philosophical about the experience and claimed things happen for a reason and that sometimes you just know when your time is up. Interestingly, he did admit that a return to West Ham was his priority when he left Manchester United but it never materialised. He claimed, “I wanted to go to West Ham. I went there on loan, did well and it made sense to go back. But (there was) a lot of things in the background, kind of persuaded me to go to Forest. But still my mind was always set on West Ham.” Defence of his attitude Sometimes Lingard was criticised by fans and pundits for his light-hearted attitude online, especially during times close to disappointing results when he was a player at the club. He defended this by asserting, “I like to be a good guy, put smiles on people’s faces, be the bubbly guy but when it is time to work, I work. I think that’s been misconstrued over the years because people think he messes about a lot and stuff.” The attacker elaborated, “they say he is always dancing, of course I am going to dance – I love a good dance in the right place and the right time. But when I am on the training pitch and on a game day, it is 100% work mode.” Ruben Amorim Lingard is also positive about United’s future and has backed the current head coach, Ruben Amorim. The England international stated, “they have a solid manager with really good ideas so you know I can’t see why they cannot push for the Champions League this year. With a manager like Amorim they can stick with him. I know sometimes they don’t win games and you are always going to learn but he is the type of manager who doesn’t care what the media say or anyone around him. He wants to concentrate on Manchester United.” Future Commenting on his future as a free agent, he claimed, “there is always going to be speculation and rumours. I’m open, I’m ready and fresh. I’m ready for a new challenge.” Jesse Lingard career stats ClubAppearancesGoalsAssistsYears Man United23235212011-2022 Leicester City (loan)5002012-2013 Birmingham City (loan)13632013-2014 Brighton (loan)17432014 Derby County (loan)15212015 West Ham (loan)16952021 Nottingham Forest20222022-2023 FC Seoul6618102024-2025 Source: Wikipedia The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Alex Browne Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Alex has a Master’s degree from Queen’s University Belfast and La Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain. Having lived in the country since 2011, Alex is The Peoples Person’s Spanish football expert and is fluent in both Spanish and Catalan. He dreams of witnessing a United captain triumphantly hoisting the Premier League and Champions League trophy in the air once more.
© 2025 Manchester United North America. All Rights Reserved. Desigb by CODEUS.