Jesse Lingard has been criticized by former Manchester United defender Paul Parker, who has urged him to “stop taking pictures and start being a footballer.”
While having a chat with MyBettingSites, Parker stated Lingard as “Mr. Instagram” and he challenged the English striker to leave Manchester United to prove himself as a proper football player.
He said:
“I think Jesse Lingard needs to go. He’s almost 30. You can’t just be one of the names at Manchester United and be ‘Mr. Instagram’ around all these big names at a big club. He’s got to go out and prove that he wants to play football and he doesn’t need Manchester United around him.”
“He needs to stop taking pictures and start becoming a footballer. If it means going to Newcastle, they can demand even more from him because he comes from Manchester United, good for him. They’re going to demand more from him because it seems that he wants to be Mr. Social Media and he’s going to have to demand more from himself.”
Jesse Lingard has been a Manchester United player for almost two decades and has 224 first-team appearances. However, he has not been a regular starting XI player in recent years, and his time with his boyhood club appears to be coming to an end.
Lingard’s current deal is set to end in the summer of 2022, and he has yet to sign an extension.
The English midfielder asked Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to let him go on loan to West Ham in the second half of last season due to a lack of playing time – a move that paid off handsomely for the English attacker.
Lingard scored nine goals and added five assists in 16 Premier League appearances for West Ham, helping the Hammers finish sixth in the league table in 2020-21. As a result, West Ham is playing Europa League football this season.
While West Ham would want Lingard to join them on a permanent basis, Manchester United does not want to lose their academy graduate to a top-four contender.
Newcastle United had shown genuine interest in signing Jesse Lingard this month and they had put forth an official proposal to sign him on loan. But Manchester United has asked them to pay a £12m bonus to sign him and this has complicated the deal even further.
Lingard has made 14 competitive appearances for Manchester United this season, including nine Premier League matches. While he has yet to start a league game this season, he has only played 88 minutes of Premier League football.
Ralf Rangnick’s side is currently placed fourth in the league table with 38 points in 22 games.
