Coventry City, Middlesbrough & Ipswich Town snubbed Jesse Lingard - he's now found new club | OneFootball

Ex-Manchester United star Jesse Lingard is set to join a surprise new club after being rejected by Coventry City, Middlesbrough and Ipswich Town

Coventry City, Middlesbrough and Ipswich Town are all firmly competing against each other in the ever-intensifying race for promotion to the Premier League as we head into the final stages of the 2025/26 Championship campaign.

There have been many twists and turns to the promotion picture and you would not bet against further shake-ups occurring before the season concludes in May, with Coventry having now raced back to the top of the table after initially throwing away an imperious lead earlier on in the campaign.

Indeed, Alex Neil's Millwall are also bidding to gatecrash the top-two as a shock late contender. The South London outfit are currently positioned in third, four points shy of Middlesbrough and nine apart from league leaders Coventry, though Ipswich will be looking to leverage their two games in hand to bridge the six-point gap between themselves and Kim Hellberg's automatic promotion contenders.

One of those four sides will, of course, experience heartbreak in the coming months by missing out on a route to the top-flight, though what direction the promotion race is heading in awaits to be seen. In the meantime, a tantalising finale is set to play out in English football's second-tier, with Coventry and Middlesbrough in particular having eagerly pursued the same glory all season long.

Another thing that Coventry, Middlesbrough and Ipswich all had in common was their respective decisions to pass up the opportunity of landing former Manchester United starlet Jesse Lingard on a free transfer following his departure from FC Seoul, which was reported earlier this month by TEAMtalk.

That same report detailed how the likes of Burnley, Celtic and Rangers had all rejected Lingard's services too, although the 33-year-old free agent is now set to seal a switch elsewhere in a surprise twist.

Ex-Man Utd star Jesse Lingard to seal Corinthians move after Coventry City, Middlesbrough, Ipswich Town transfer rejection

Lingard's stock has fallen ever since his memorable loan spell with West Ham United in the second-half of the 2020/21 Premier League, which saw the attacking midfielder return nine goals and four assists from just 16 appearances.

He failed to force his way back into the fold at Old Trafford before moving on to Nottingham Forest and then FC Seoul, with the 32-cap ex-England international enjoying a renaissance of sorts in South Korea.

Lingard is now set to jet across the globe once more as per a recent report from ESPN, which has revealed that the playmaker is closing in on a switch to Brazilian giants Corinthians.

According to the latest update, the seven-time Brazilian top-flight champions are wrapping up the deal imminently after agreeing contractual terms with Lingard, who is poised to put pen to paper on an initial one-year contract.

Fabrizio Romano has added via X that there had been competition from an unnamed MLS club, although São Paulo very much appears to represent the next destination in Lingard's career.

Lingard, who made more than 200 appearances throughout his time at Man United, is set to link up with a former Red Devils teammate in Memphis Depay, with the Dutch forward having been plying his trade with Corinthians since departing Atletico Madrid in 2024.

Coventry City, Middlesbrough, Ipswich Town have dodged potential Jesse Lingard transfer bullet

It's perhaps no real surprise that the trio all elected to rebuff a move for Lingard, who may have struggled to get going and offer much of note in the heat of a Premier League promotion pursuit.

The former West Ham loan star has head-turning pedigree and, at his best, would undoubtedly represent a huge hit at Championship level.

However, all three sides boast exceptional and functional midfields already and could have struggled to accommodate Lingard, while there will have also been natural concerns regarding his pay packet and the fact that he's spent recent campaigns playing in a considerably weaker division in South Korea's top-flight.

Coventry, Middlesbrough and Ipswich will all hope their shared rejection doesn't come back to bite, but you do get the feeling that, if any of those clubs are to miss out on promotion, it won't be because they didn't snap Lingard up at this stage of his career.