Roy Keane insists Jesse Lingard made a mistake in not leaving Manchester United last summer after the midfielder contradicted Ralf Rangnick to explain his absence from first-team selection.
Lingard did not leave the club in the January transfer window despite interest from West Ham and Newcastle who both attempted to sign the England international.
It was a remarkable twist in the midfielder’s future after United interim boss Ralf Rangnick gave Lingard his blessing to leave the club ahead of the window closing.
West Ham – where Lingard netted nine goals in 16 appearances last season on a loan spell – joined Newcastle in the race to sign the 29-year-old, but neither were successful in their pursuits.
United boss Rangnick then said at a press conference on Thursday that Lingard had been given a few days off to “clear his mind” and would be back in training by Monday.
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Rangnick said: "Jesse asked if we could give him a couple of days off to clear his mind. He will be back in training on Monday and part of the whole squad.”
Lingard clarified his absence from the squad via his Twitter account on Thursday: “Lingard wrote on his Twitter account: “The club advised me to have time off due to personal reasons!
“But my headspace is clear and I’ll always be professional when called upon and give 100 percent.”
Former United captain Keane has now highlighted that Lingard’s problems all stem from his mistake of not leaving Old Trafford last summer.
That was after the player returned from his loan spell at West Ham but stayed at United, with whom he has not started a Premier League match since January 2020.
Lingard actually fell further behind in United’s attacking pecking order this season following the arrivals of Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Keane explained on ITV ahead of Friday’s FA Cup clash against Middlesbrough: “He should have gone last summer. End of story.
“He’s had his chance, he went out and showed what he’s about.
“He’s a good player, went to West Ham hit the ground running having not played much football but people get bogged on players’ contract if they want to leave on a free, you have to play the games.
“He can complain all he wants, obviously it’s not ideal between the club and Jesse at the moment.
“Last summer was his opportunity he should’ve took it, if he had the chance and I’m sure he might say there wasn’t many offers on the table, but he had the opportunity last summer that was his chance.
“Because at the moment he’s just writing the season off and he can’t afford to do that if he has plans on getting back into the England setup.
“But having said that, there’s an important few months coming up for United, stranger things have happened if he can come back in he’s shown before that he’s got quality.”
Keane’s fellow ITV pundit Ian Wright defended Lingard’s position, slamming Man Utd's "unfair" treatment and explaining that it was likely due to a “communication breakdown” between player and club.
The former Arsenal striker said: “When you’ve got a player saying he wants to play then the manager comes out and says he wants a break, now for me it just seems really strange for Jesse, someone who could hardly make the team but we saw how hard he worked himself, go to West Ham and do very well.
“He’s done very well for Man United, in the four finals since Sir Alex hasn’t been about he’s played in four and scored in three.
“Everything about him, he wants to do well for the club so I can’t understand why they come out and say that. He’s had a pile on from people saying he doesn’t want to play for the club, where’s the care of duty in that?
“I think it’s varying respects of what he wants to do, what he’s trying to do in respect of trying to leave the club, he wanted to get a loan move, whatever it is they denied him getting a loan move and in a world cup year, somebody who might do well and go the World Cup.
“There’s a lot of things that’s really have gone wrong if you look at both sides because he needs to play and I think he thought he was going to get a loan.”
Lingard - who is out of contract this summer - was not in the matchday squad for United’s FA Cup Fourth Round clash against Middlesbrough.
