Paul Merson claims Jesse Lingard has no future at Manchester United
Writing in his column for the Daily Star, former Arsenal star Paul Merson has claimed that Jesse Lingard has no long-term future at Manchester United.
A product of the Manchester United youth academy, Lingard enjoyed a rise to prominence under former manager Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho. However, after a brief period of regular football under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the Englishman slowly fell out of favour.
The 28-year-old had struggled for game-time all season long in 2020/21, featuring just three times across all competitions. As a result, he was granted a loan move to West Ham United in the recently concluded transfer window.
And, Lingard made a blazing start to life with the Hammers. The Englishman grabbed a brilliant double on his debut to fire David Moyes’ side to a 3-1 win over Aston Villa in midweek.
Despite his promising start and Solskjaer’s comments that it was important for Lingard to go out on loan to build his confidence, Merson is of the opinion that he has no long-term future at Old Trafford.
Instead, the ex-Arsenal midfielder has urged the 28-year-old to secure a permanent move from United in the summer.
“Jesse Lingard has no future at Manchester United and should leave Old Trafford permanently, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said all the right things about wanting to build up his confidence on loan at West Ham so they can welcome him back.
“But he was just trying to build up Lingard’s transfer fee. I think he should move on. He’s not 21 any more.”
