Jesse Lingard says he was never told why Manchester United failed to deliver on their "false promises" during his final season at Old Trafford - seemingly taking aim at Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick.
Having progressed through the Academy, before spending two decades with the club, Lingard is gearing up for a first return to his beloved United with Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night (8pm). It should be an emotional night for Lingard and his family due to their association.
Lingard played 232 games for United - scoring 35 goals and providing 21 assists - but his last 12 months at the club were overshadowed. He totted up only 355 minutes in the Premier League and was denied a farewell appearance when Brentford headed to Old Trafford for the final home match.
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Nemanja Matic and Juan Mata were, meanwhile, handed swansongs as they got ready to follow Lingard in leaving United on free transfers. It was met with radio silence from Lingard, personally, but his brother Louie Scott did stick up for the player with scathing posts on social media platform Instagram.
But the 30-year-old has, now, had his say during an interview with The Telegraph. Lingard said: "I don't know why I wasn't playing. I don't know what the problem was, whether it was politics or whatever.
"I still haven't got an answer to this day. I didn't even ask."
Lingard continued: "I'd rather that someone out of respect for me being there that long told me; 'This is why you're not playing', but I never got that. It was false promises.
"I was training hard and I was sharp. I was ready to play them games. When you're working hard in training and then you don't play at the end of the week, it's very frustrating."
During his penultimate season, Lingard was sent out on loan to West Ham in January where he recaptured his best form with nine goals and five assists in 16 appearances. Despite that output, the 32-cap England international found himself seldom used by Solskjaer - or Rangnick - when he subsequently took over as interim.
Lingard added: "I had to grind out that last year because I knew I'd be on a free transfer.
"I'm not really the type of guy to sulk around the dressing room. I'm always that bubbly character with good vibes.
"I was getting on with my training and doing my work, then here and there I'd come on and try to give my best. The last year [at United] was difficult."
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