Jesse Lingard’s short spell at Nottingham Forest was a “disaster”, according to pundit Darren Bent.
Publishing their retained list last week, the Reds announced Lingard will be one of six senior players to leave the club when their contracts expire at the end of this month. It brings an end to the 30-year-old’s one-year stay at the City Ground after signing as a free agent last summer.
During that time, he made 20 appearances in all competitions and scored two goals in the Carabao Cup. Injuries hampered him just as he was starting to find form and he struggled for game time after the World Cup break.
He featured just four times in 2023, with his last run-out coming as a substitute against former club Manchester United in April. Lingard remained a key character in the dressing room as Forest secured survival, but former striker Bent has criticised the attacker’s impact on the pitch.
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“Seventeen appearances in the league, no goals, no assists. I know he’s had his injuries and I think he’s even spoken about some of his problems off the pitch in a few interviews, but it just hasn’t worked. It’s been a disaster,” Bent said on talkSPORT.
“You look at Morgan Gibbs-White, who has really stepped up and come on this season. Jesse hasn’t done that.
“When you look at the amount of money the club have invested in him for one year, they’ve got no return on that. I know they’ve stayed in the league, and I guess he could turn around and say, ‘I was part of the squad which helped this club stay in the league’. But when you look at actual impact on the pitch, it’s next to nothing.
“I know Jesse, I played with him at Derby, I know he’ll have a positive impact in the dressing room, so maybe that has helped. But if you judge him on what he’s done on the pitch, he hasn’t done anything.
“After West Ham (on loan), he went back to United again. He almost lost that momentum. If he’d gone straight from West Ham and re-signed for them or straight away gone somewhere else to play and kicked on, he’d have been on fire. But he went back to United and stuttered again, and then he’s gone into this season with no form whatsoever.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if he ends up in the MLS. I’ve got no inside information, but it almost feels like he’s signed a one-year deal just to get himself ready for the MLS. One year on that type of money? Why wasn’t it a two or three-year contract? It was bizarre.
“To me, it almost feels like he wanted to go to the MLS, that didn’t work, he then ended up at Forest for a year and it wouldn’t surprise me if he now ends up in the MLS. I think that’s what he wants to do.”
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