Manchester United have announced that Jesse Lingard will leave the club on a free transfer this summer.
The England international has been at the Red Devils since the age of 9 and progressed through the club's academy before making his senior debut in 2011. He went on four different loan spells to Leicester City, Birmingham City, Derby County and Brighton & Hove Albion, before cementing himself in the United side.
Having made 40 appearances across all competitions during the 2015/16 season, Lingard was handed his England debut later in the year and started in a 2-0 win over Malta. He continued to impress at the Red Devils and was a regular under Jose Mourinho as United won the Carabao Cup and Europa League in the same campaign.
The Red Devils paid tribute to Lingard with a lengthy statement on their official website charting his 22-year journey with the club since joining as a youngster in 2000. The statement, which included all of Lingard's highlights from his time at United, ended: "We’d like to take this opportunity to thank Jesse for all of the memories he’s helped create during his two decades here and wish him the best of luck in his future career."
Lingard's best goalscoring season came in the following campaign as he netted 13 goals in 49 games. But the 29-year-old struggled for regular game time after Mourinho was sacked as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over as the club's new manager following a short stint as Interim boss.
He even failed to make a single Premier League appearance at the start of the 2020/21 campaign, which saw Lingard go out on loan to West Ham United for the second half of the season. It is safe to say Lingard made a fine impression by scoring nine times in 16 matches, helping the Hammers to a sixth place finish.
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There were some calls for Lingard to sign for West Ham permanently last summer, but the attacking midfielder stayed put and wanted to fight for his place at the Red Devils. He was not able to break back into the United side and remained down the pecking order, behind the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Paul Pogba and Jadon Sancho.
Lingard continued to be linked with a switch away in January with Newcastle United and Leicester City brought into the mix for his signature. However, once again, a move never materialised and Lingard featured a further seven times in the Premier League, before United announced he would be leaving at the end of his contract.
West Ham are the frontrunners to sign Lingard this summer after his successful loan spell last year, while Newcastle, Everton and Leeds United remain linked with the player. He has made 296 appearances throughout his professional club career to date, scoring 56 goals.
