Jesse Lingard: Former Man United star pinpoints key career regret

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The Peoples Person

·2. Januar 2026

Jesse Lingard: Former Man United star pinpoints key career regret

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.

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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.”