It’s also not too late for Jesse Lingard to get his Old Trafford exit this transfer window, and find a way to restart his career elsewhere. Yes, in spite of the fact that the summer window has closed in most European countries.
According to SB Nation’s United community, The Busby Babe: “Reports suggest that he may find a new club on a season-long loan, with Portuguese side Porto interested in the forward.”
United have just done some business with FC Porto, signing their left back Alex Telles. Lingard had found a fair amount of success at United, under both Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho, but the English forward then hit a massive slump and fell way down the pecking order.
He remains the answer to a great trivia question- the player who scored both the last goal of the LVG era and the first of the Mourinho era, but he also went over the span of one calendar year without scoring a domestic goal up until January 26.
While United failed miserably in trying to sign Jadon Sancho, their top target at Lingard’s position, they also did sign two two kids for the position in Atalanta’s Amad Traore and Facundo Pellistri out of Uruguay.
So while there is obviously no near term future for Lingard, 27, at United, it also seems that there is no longer term prospects for him at Old Trafford either.
It’s best for both Lingard and the club that they part ways now and move on from each other.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.