After 22 years at the club, Jesse Lingard will depart from Manchester United at the end of June 2022.
Having joined the club at the age of 7, Jesse Lingard (29) has decided that his time at Manchester United has come to an end. The decision to leave the club came about due to a lack of playing time under various former managers including club legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and interim manager Road Rangnick. Lingard was told to have felt disrespected by the club and refused a new contract offer.
Lingard spent a total of 8 seasons in United’s first team after bursting onto the scene during the 2014-2015 Premier League campaign. On to replace an injured Adnan Januzaj against Swansea City, the Englishman was granted an to opportunity to shine by ex manager Louis van Gaal.
During his 8 seasons, Lingard has made 232 appearances for the club, having scored 35 goals and creating 21 assists. And although he wasn’t always the first choice, Lingard proved to be a very essential and key player in the squad from the year 2015 to the year 2017.
The biggest moment of Jesse’s career came towards the end of the 2015-2016 season when Jesse Lingard came on as a substitute in United’s FA Cup Final match against Crystal Palace. Living a fairytale moment, Lingard smashed in a perfectly timed Volley in extra time to clinch the FA Cup Trophy in what turned out to be Louis van Gaal’s final game in charge. Bringing silverware to United that season, Lingard will always be remembered as the Hero of that night as even his haters sung praises to his name.
But even after his heroics in the final, Lingard was still getting hated on and criticised by many people. But lucky for Jesse, his fairytale did not end there and he was able to silence his haters. The season that followed, turned out to be another spectacular season for the Milly Rock King as United brought one 2 silverware. Lingard having played a vital part in both.
Not in his wildest dreams did Lingard ever think that he would score in 3 consecutive finals. The 2016-2017 season started great when Jesse scored in the Community Shield victory against Premier League winners Leicester City.
And to top it all off, Jesse added the EPL trophy to his list of accolades when he scored yet another important winning goal in the EFL Cup final. The criticism didn’t stop for the midfielder though, as he was now being hated on for his iconic celebrations. Yes, indeed the man did drop some of the most iconic celebrations in the history of football. Milly Rock at the Emirates, Moonwalk at the Emirates, the Shoot dance (at multiple stadiums) and his famous JLingz celebration, just to mention a few. Fans started to label him more as a “dancer” instead of a “footballer.”
After living some of the highest moments in his life, sadly his Manchester United career started to fall apart even more when he was forced to take time off due to family responsibilities. Choosing his family over football, Jesse’s United career took a dark and tragic turn. When he returned, he started receiving alot of backlash from the fans for his poor performances.
Lingard managed to revive his career following a tremendous loan spell at West Ham United during the 2020-2021 season, scoring a whopping 9 goals and creating 4 assists in just 16 appearances at the club. Some believe that West Ham might be the 29-year old midfielders next stop.
In conclusion, Jesse Lingard might not be a fan favourite but he will forever be known as a scorer of great goals, as the man who won Manchester United the FA Cup in 2016 and as the only man to have ever turned the Emirates into his own personal dance floor.
And as a JLingz girl, I wish him nothing but the best in his next adventure.
xoxo Football Chic
Football Chic 