It was the last goal of last season and the last time Jesse Lingard was seen on the pitch in the Premier League. It was the 98th minute of the final-day drama when he slotted the ball into Leicester’s unguarded net. Lingard may have had fewer assists than Aaron Ramsdale but at least he finally had a goal in the Premier League campaign. Manchester United were going into the Champions League.
Not that Lingard went with them. West Ham beckons for him. He has figured in the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup this season, but not in the Premier or Champions Leagues. He has more recent experience of starring in distinctly odd adverts for pistachio nuts than elite-level football. He has felt luckless, suffering from injuries, emerging from self-isolation only to have to self-isolate again in an interrupted autumn. But he has also been something of a forgotten man: teamsheets without Lingard’s name on prompted relatively little comment until Ole Gunnar Solskjaer explained his absences.
Two years have made a difference. Lingard was one of the flagship players at the start of Solskjaer’s reign, the product of the academy who scored twice in his first game in charge. The embodiment of an ethos has been surplus to requirements since Bruno Fernandes arrived. The first half of last season was a failure of United’s various other No. 10s; Fernandes was the immediate upgrade on Lingard and the indictment of him.
Maybe a late developer has faded early. Lingard used to be the king of United’s pre-season tours. He will be reunited with David Moyes at West Ham and scored the first goal of the Scot’s United reign, albeit in a friendly, but he was not ready for first-team football at 20. Even his official United debut came as a wing-back, in a typically quixotic move by Louis van Gaal, but his status was as the serial loanee.
After his belated emergence, he became the unlikely talisman; he got a disproportionate number of his goals in big games, including the spectacular winner in the 2016 FA Cup final. His vibrancy and running power made him a favourite of Gareth Southgate’s. He was a World Cup semi-finalist, at the end of a season when he scored 13 goals.
An absolute rocket from Jesse Lingard to get you in the mood on #FACupFinal day.Football Focus on @BBCOne at 13:00 BST FA Cup Final Show on @BBCOne at 14:BST#mciwat live on @BBCOne, @5livesport and online from 15:55 BST.https://t.co/aSGpR1aLml #mcfc #watfordfc pic.twitter.com/zvwyzg1djdMay 18, 2019
But it is the only time he has topped six. The goals have dried up for a supposed scorer. Nor, with just nine assists in his Premier League career, has he ever been that creative. So, apart from being loaned out when he ought to be at his peak, what is he? From an ill-advised Snapchat video to his JLingz persona, there has been an element of arrested adolescence to Lingard. But at 28, he isn’t young anymore; he is actually older than Paul Pogba, who is invariably treated as the more senior figure. His England career may be over, even if he is rejuvenated at club level. Phil Foden, Mason Mount, Jack Grealish and James Maddison, a glut of younger and more compelling alternatives have emerged.
There is a curiosity about his next destination. Moyes has shown a sure touch in the transfer market at West Ham, but he has brought in an attacking midfielder when he needed a striker. The stage may be set for Lingard to understudy Jarrod Bowen and Said Berahino, those graduates of the Championship. That would suggest a dramatic decline, but it may not be revisionist thinking to wonder how good Lingard ever was.
Maybe an entire career’s worth of highlights was compressed into three years; before and since, he has had very little regular Premier League football. Certainly his value in the transfer market has collapsed, though that is partly because the crunch on football finances make it far harder to envisage a mid-table club paying £30 million for his services. Especially when his contract with United is up in 2022. Perhaps a forgettable outing against Watford in the FA Cup will be his valedictory contribution in a United shirt. Maybe, given his spectacular winner against Crystal Palace in the 2016 final, it was at least fitting his finale came in that contribution. But it feels an underwhelming end, just as he seems a player whose career is at a crossroads.
While you're here, subscribe to FourFourTwo today and save 53%. All the exclusive interviews, long reads, quizzes and more but for less than half price...
NOW READ
CHELSEA Thomas Tuchel takes over Chelsea: 5 things that need fixing at Stamford Bridge
RANKED! FourFourTwo's 50 Players of the Season... so far
ARSENAL 5 things you need to know about new Arsenal signing Martin Odegaard
