How Coventry City, Middlesbrough and Ipswich Town reacted to Jesse Lingard transfer offer | OneFootball

The trio of Championship promotion-chasers were all involved in a high-profile transfer saga

A fresh report has emerged claiming that a trio of sides hunting promotion from the Championship to the Premier League passed up the opportunity to complete a high-profile transfer move for 32-time England international, Jesse Lingard.

As per Graeme Bailey - via TEAMtalk - all of Coventry City, Middlesbrough and Ipswich Town turned down the chance to offer the 33-year-old a return to English football as his time with South Korean side, FC Seoul, came to an end in December 2025 after a two-season stint in the Far East.

All three sides help make up a cluster of seven British sides who were reportedly given the chance to sign Lingard on a free transfer, as he is now set for another intriguing career venture.

As previously mentioned, all three of the aforementioned Championship sides are harbouring ambitions of a return to the Premier League at the end of the regular 46-game season.

Coventry had endured a well-documented dip in form over the turn of the year and into February 2026, but recorded a timely and crucial 3-1 success over Middlesbrough at the Coventry Building Society Arena on Monday night, with USMNT international forward, Haji Wright, marking his stellar individual performance with a hat-trick.

The Sky Blues moved back to the top of the second tier standings as a result of their mammoth victory, having taken 62 points from 32 games, whilst Boro are one point behind, yet seven points clear of the Tractor Boys, who are currently fourth in the table with two matches in hand.

All three sides have some of the most talented attacking players in the Championship between them, which has been a welcome luxury for Frank Lampard, Kim Hellberg and Kieran McKenna.

However, it seems as though the trio of head coaches felt there was no reason to pursue a deal for Lingard, who would have only added further depth and experience in a fascinating promotion fight.

Jesse Lingard transfer truth emerges involving Coventry City, Middlesbrough and Ipswich Town

Lingard's career path to-date has certainly been intriguing, with the attacking midfielder best known for his time at Manchester United, for whom he made 232 appearances, scoring 35 times and providing a further 21 assists at Old Trafford between 2014 and 2022.

After spending the second half of the 2020/21 season on loan with West Ham United, Lingard went on to sign for Nottingham Forest in 2022 after the East Midlands side's promotion from the Championship, but made just 17 appearances at the City Ground.

In two seasons with FC Seoul, Lingard made a further 67 career appearances and scored 19 times, before confirming his departure by mutual consent two months ago.

It has now been claimed by TEAMtalk that Coventry, Middlesbrough and Ipswich all declined the opportunity of signing Lingard, after the midfielder made himself available to all of West Ham, Burnley, Celtic and Rangers.

The reasons behind such developments have not been reported, and it now appears as though the ex-Birmingham City and Leicester City loanee is braced to sign for Brazilian Serie A side, Remo.

It would have been intriguing to see how many minutes Lingard would have received at one of Coventry, Middlesbrough or Ipswich, especially when taking into consideration that his last competitive appearance came on December 10th.

Whilst his reputation is still relatively strong, there is also no guarantee that Lingard would have been a shoo-in in all of Lampard, Hellberg or McKenna's sides, with all three already stacked with technical and creative forces, such as Jack Rudoni, Hayden Hackney and Marcelino Nunez.