Jesse Lingard former Manchester United and England player, has completed his surprise move to South Korean club FC Seoul.
The 32-cap Three Lions international had been without a club since Nottingham Forest dropped him at the end of last season. Lingard trained with his former club West Ham United last summer before failing to secure a deal with Saudi Pro League club Al Ettifaq.
Nearly seven months later, Lingard has returned to football after signing a two-year contract with FC Seoul that includes a third-year option.
“I’ve always wanted different challenges and to create new memories in my career, and I believe being in South Korea is the perfect place for that,” said the 31-year-old.
“I have received several offers since last summer,” Lingard said at a press appearance in the South Korean capital on Thursday.
“Other clubs just extended verbal offers. FC Seoul submitted a written offer. Club executives demonstrated their commitment by coming to Manchester to assess my physical condition. At that time, I decided to join FC Seoul.”
Lingard was let go by Manchester United and signed a lucrative one-year contract with Forest ahead of the 2022-23 season, however the transfer did not have the anticipated impact. Although the Reds maintained their top-flight status, Lingard played little role, appearing only 17 times in total.
Lingard’s career has stalled since his loan transfer to Newcastle United fell through. A contract between the Magpies and Lingard was reached in January 2022, but Manchester United refused to approve the transfer.
“I wanted to go on loan again in January because I wasn’t playing again,” Lingard told the Diary of a CEO podcast. “Newcastle was scheduled for January. The deal was completed, but United’s squad was insufficient.
“A handful of players went out on loan, and when it came to me, John Murtough [Manchester United’s director of football] called and said, ‘No, you’re not going on loan.’ I said, ‘He’s on loan. Let me go and enjoy my football. I am not playing here, therefore let me go on loan.
“I want to play football.” He was like, “What do you want?” ‘Days off?’ I said no. I want to go play football. “They stopped the loan; obviously I was p—-d.”
Lingard was sidelined by then-manager Ralf Rangnick for the second part of the season. Newcastle remained interested in the player throughout the following transfer window, but were unwilling to fulfill his rumored wage demands of £200,000 per week.
Leave a Reply