Jesse Lingard faces obstacle ahead of football comeback as ex-Man Utd boss gives brutal admission

Former Manchester United man Jesse Lingard is edging closer to a return to football for the first time since his Nottingham Forest departure at the end of last season. Lingard was on the books at Old Trafford for several years and emerged as a first team player in 2011 after an FA Youth Cup triumph.

After a series of loan spells in the Football League he progressed into the Red Devils first team under Louis Van Gaal and is best known for his match winning goal in the 2016 FA Cup final.

Lingard enjoyed further success in the Europa League and Carabao Cup under Jose Mourinho but slipped down the pecking order during Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s time in the dugout.

The 32-time England international was heavily linked with a move away from Old Trafford after a successful six month loan spell at West Ham in 2021. But eventually made the decision to stay at United for the final year of his contract.

Lingard has made just 17 first team appearances since leaving Old Trafford and failed to register a single goal or assist during his 12-month spell at Nottingham Forest.

The midfielder briefly returned to The London Stadium on a training contract with West Ham where he once again linked up with David Moyes. This fuelled speculation of a return to the capital but Moyes has since downplayed rumours of a move in a brutal admission.

During an interview at the end of September, Moyes told The Mirror: “I think I’ve been indicating to you (the media) boys that we’re having to see what he’s going to do and how he’s going to be. We like Jesse a lot but I just don’t know if we need another player in the position he would probably play for us.”

Lingard has since trained with Saudi outfit Al-Ettifaq who are managed by Steven Gerrard and he took just four minutes to make his presence felt as he scored on a first friendly appearance for the club.

The 30-year-old has regularly appeared on the club’s social media posts and reports from The Mirror claim a move is imminent, but there is one stumbling block that stands in the way of Lingard’s first team return.

Domestic rules in Saudi Arabia state that clubs are only able to register a maximum of eight foreign players in their matchday squads. Al-Ettifaq currently have 10 non-Saudi players in their squad and will need to sell some in January before introducing any more, according to league rules. This means that Lingard will be forced to wait until January to make his footballing comeback.