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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
David Hytner

‘I made such a bond’: Jesse Lingard on life in South Korea and his next challenge

Jesse Lingard at Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul.
Jesse Lingard at Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul. He mentions ‘Europe, Saudi, UAE’ when asked where he may play next. Photograph: Courtesy of Jesse Lingard

Jesse Lingard says his Korean is decent, good enough to make himself understood when out for dinner and the shocks do not stop there. The former Manchester United and England midfielder was always going to throw himself into his K League adventure with FC Seoul and now that it is over after two years, a new chapter beckoning when the January transfer window opens, the 33-year-old certainly has the tales to tell.

It was the little things as much as anything else, the cultural quirks. And the bigger ones, of course – such as the time he watched an octopus squirm in front of him before eating it. “The food is different, obviously, and I tried live octopus,” Lingard says. “It was moving. I was scared at first but it was all right.”

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