Former Manchester United midfielder Jesse Lingard has already made his feelings clear about a reunion with Jose Mourinho in Italy.
Lingard left United on Wednesday having broken through into the first team in 2014. His time at Old Trafford had been tumultuous to say the least.
During the last campaign, Lingard struggled to cement a place in either Ole Gunnar Solskjaer or Ralf Rangnick's plans. A move away from the Theatre of Dreams was blocked in January leading to some speculation that he would be given more game time but this failed to materialise.
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Now the 29-year-old has left Manchester, reports have begun to surface that a move to join Mourinho at AS Roma could be on the cards. Looking back at comments made in 2021 for The Players Tribune, Lingard would relish the opportunity to work with the former United and Chelsea manager again.
He said: "Me and Jose had a good relationship generally, though, I have to say. He was good to me.
"Before all the injury stuff, he trusted me, put me in for important games. We won trophies and he made me a winner.
"He could just bring out that side in you. He also liked to have a personal connection with his players.
"Sometimes I'd look at my phone and I’d be getting a random FaceTime from him. Just out of nowhere — just to check in.
"I used to find it so strange at first. He'd call and be like: 'Hey Jesse, what are you doing?'
"And I'd be like: 'Erm, just chilling, watching TV … (awkward silence) … what are you doing?'
"I found it funny. And, to be fair, it showed how much he cared about us."
Mourinho has managed to rediscover that winning instinct in Tammy Abraham at Roma. Abraham has scored 27 goals in 53 appearances this season and is now firmly back in the mindset of Gareth Southgate ahead of the World Cup in Qatar.
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