Though Man United put the brakes on him joining Newcastle, things haven’t really worked out for Jesse Lingard at Nottingham Forest, and at the conclusion of his one-year-deal at the City Ground he’ll be moving on, potentially to Saudi Arabia.
Football Insider say that sources have indicated that Forest aren’t willing to offer the 30-year-old a new contract, and that clubs in Saudi Arabia appear best placed to acquire his services.
Were he to leave for the riches available in the Gulf, he’d be treading the same path as former Man United team-mate, Cristiano Ronaldo, and given his advancing years, one has to assume that this would be Lingard’s last big pay day.
A brilliant loan spell at West Ham notwithstanding, the former England international hasn’t really hit the heights for a while now.
Indeed, WhoScored.com note that he only has two goals and two assists to his name as a Forest player – and neither have come in the Premier League.
To that end, it isn’t an overstatement to say he’s been an abject failure at the Midlands-based club and that, perhaps, the level of Saudi Arabian football may be more to his taste.
Earlier this year, Lingard admitted on the Diary of a CEO podcast that a move to Newcastle had been agreed for the January 2022 window, but it didn’t materialise because United were too thin on the ground in terms of squad depth.
How different things could’ve been…
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